Harry Potter and The Black Star
by Ceffyldwr
Summary: % ON HIATUS % What if Sirius had a daughter? And what if she and Harry became secret friends and found out Dumbledore's manipulation. Bashing Dumbledore and Molly, Ron and Ginny Weasely. Some mention of abuse... Rated M for safety. Harry/OC, Neville/Multi, Sirius/Marlene... EDIT: Harry's pairing changed... (Sorry- reason in chapter- 5)
1. Memories and Plans

**AN: OK so I am quite late to write a Harry Potter fanfiction. Buuuut... better late than never, right?**

**Now there's gonna be some serious (not Sirius) bashing of some characters like APWBD, RW, GW, MW, etc. There is going to be some eye-opening moment of HG, which may appear as some mild bashing but I like her and it's going to be alright for her.**

**As to pairings- It's going to be HP/multi, NL/multi, others are still undecided.** **Don't like don't read**

**_EDIT: I removed one bind (weaponry). To be explained later in the story._** **_AND I am removing the founder's heir part as it will make things too easy in the future, we need challenges, right?_**

**Disclaimer: HP world belongs to our beloved JKR... (NOT mine)**

CHAPTER:1

Harry made his way to a classroom, on the fifth floor of Hogwarts. It had been just yesterday that his name had come out of the Goblet of Fire and then the wizarding sheeps had accused him of being a cheater and had ridiculed him. Even Ron refused to believe him and had called him an attention seeking prat. That surprisingly hadn't hurt at all like he had thought it would. Well, it was mostly because he knew that Ron was a jealous prat, and he had known that for a while.

As he reached the door, he uttered the password, "Aslan be with us!". The door opened revealing a thin, raven-haired girl with glasses; the one to come up with the password. He went in and closed the door. The girl looked up from her book, her eyes scrutinized the messy-haired boy. Her eyes were unique, it was half blue and half black, and it had the power to unnerve anyone with its powerful stare.

Harry opened his mouth to speak but was cut off by the girl, "If you're going to ask what I think you're going to ask, then save it. Are you an idiot? No? Then why pray do you think that I'll believe what the sheep believe? I know you didn't put your name in the Goblet. Eternal Glory my arse!" she scoffed.

Harry smiled, after his bushy-haired friend, she was the second one to believe in him. But it wasn't just that, she had known what he was going to ask and had answered it. "Well, I had to know. After pig weasely, I was a little worried." The girl nodded.

"Well, what did they say?" she asked and Harry understood who she was referring to. "They said I must compete. Kharkoff and Maxime were against it. Bagman looked like he was on a sugar high. Snape was his usual, trying to blame it on my arrogance. French Flower called me a leeteel boi," here the girl snorted, "but Crouch and Dumbles said I must compete as it is a magically binding contract. I was able to get the contract off Bagman by getting Dobby to quietly copy it for me. Here," he handed over the contract to her. She read it quietly. As she read, her expression changed from anger, to fear, to disdain and finally to shock.

"Whoever wrote the contract was an idiot. It says here that no one may interfere with the champions when the task is going on, also the champions are required to participate in all the tasks no matter what. All the task details are given here, the first task is... Dragons!! You have to get past a dragon and retrieve a golden egg. It contains the clue to the second task. They are going to pit you against a dragon, bloody morons," the girl hissed in anger. "The second task is on 24th February. You have to retrieve your hostages from the lake, the idiots, putting eight students in a lake in February. Oh, you also have to attend the Yule Ball. So you must know how to dance. The third task is on 24th June. It requires you to traverse through a maze and retrieve the Triwizard cup. The one who gets the cup wins." All through this, Harry's face grew paler and paler and his anger mounted.

"Bloody morons!!" he blew out his cheeks angrily.

"But I see something that's going to get you some privileges." She gave a smirk, "The Champions must be _of age_, no underage student can be the participants..." she trailed off.

"What?" Harry frowned before his eyes widened in understanding. "Th-that means...I am... the idiots!" Harry laughed and the girl joined him. They began to make plans accordingly.

Xxxxx...

As Harry went to bed that night, he thought back to when he had first met the black haired girl...

**$Flashback 1$**

12-year-old Harry was running away from a few older Ravenclaws and Hufflepuff. They were taunting and trying to curse him for the whole heir of Slytherin thing. Suddenly he was yanked into a classroom, which closed with a bang. He turned around and came face to face with a raven-haired Hufflepuff firstie with the most unique eyes he had ever seen. She softly told him to keep quiet. When the older students were gone, Harry turned towards the girl.

"You saved me! Why?"

"Because it was the right thing to do..." she replied.

"But don't you think I'm attacking the Muggle-borns?" he asked bitterly.

"I am not an idiot. Well, you could be the heir of Slytherin but you most certainly can't hate muggle-borns. I mean your best friend is a muggle-born, heck your mother is one." she told him. Harry grinned at her.

"Thanks! Well, you would know me. But who are you?"

"I am Lyra, Lyra Rivers".

**$End of flashback 1$**

**$Flashback 2$**

Summer before the third year, day after Harry had run away. Harry was sitting in the leaky cauldron finishing dinner when he saw a black haired girl entering the cauldron dragging her trunk. He looked at her closely and was startled to see Lyra. He made his way to the counter.

"This ain't enough for a room lass," Tom was saying referring to the meager amount of money the girl had. Lyra looked down dejectedly.

"Here," Lyra looked up sharply to see Harry passing Tom some galleons.

"Yo-you don't have to," Lyra told him, eyes wide.

"Nonsense," Harry smiled at her kindly before frowning at the old rags she was wearing.

As they trudged up to her room, she said, "I can't repay you, until I get a job. Er... my school cost is paid by the Hogwarts fund you see."

He waved her off, "You don't have to. But what are you doing here alone? Where are your parents?"

Lyra flushed, "Er...my parents are dead, or so I think. I live with my adoptive relatives, where er...I am not very welcome, well not anymore."

"What do you mean? And you think, your parents are dead?"

"You see I was found at the doorstep of the house where I live- used to live. I was adopted by an old woman, Annabell Rivers. She died a week ago, er...her son and his family don't like me much so I..er.." she looked embarrassed.

"So you ran away?" Harry asked. Lyra nodded.

"Don't worry, I did the same thing. My relatives, my mother's sister and her whale of a husband and son hate me. I ran away yesterday when I accidentally blew up Uncle Vernon's sister, Marge." Harry shrugged. They entered Lyra's room, opposite to that of Harry.

Lyra laughed before wincing in pain and suddenly coughed up blood. Harry stared at her in horror.

"Qu-quick...my trunk...potion," Lyra rasped. Harry quickly opened her trunk and on the top lay three potions. He grabbed them and gave them to her. Lyra gulped down two of them and sat at the bed. Harry bit his lips and sat down beside her. Lyra flinched.

"What happened?" Harry asked gently. Lyra bit her lips, "I...I fell down the stairs."

"Yeah, and I am Voldemort." Harry snorted but was impressed that Lyra didn't flinch at the dark lord's name. "You can tell me. I won't spill your secrets, promise."

When Lyra didn't say a word, Harry looked at her. He could see she needed help. He could see her fears. And he cursed his hero complex. He took a deep breath, my relatives are afraid of magic. And they hated my mother. So they took it out on me. I was a..abused throughout my life." Lyra looked at him sharply. He told Lyra about his home life. He told her about the periods of starvation and being locked up, his cupboard, 'Harry hunting', his chores and the periodic beatings from his uncle for his freakiness. He even told her about how much he hated his fame and the whole Boy who lived thing. And he didn't know why. He _never _shared this informations about his life. Something in this girl made him want to share.

"...They haven't touched me since I got my Hogwarts letter. Well until a house elf performed a hover charm and got me into trouble, that is." He finished. He actually felt like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders.

Lyra looked at him with understanding. And Harry knew that she did understand. She stared at her hand for a few seconds, wanting to hurt the Dursleys, before taking a deep shuddering breath.

"It started when gran fell ill. I was five. Her son, his wife, and son came to live with us. It started small, they gave me chores to do. If I didn't complete them, I was locked in my room and starved. I wasn't allowed to tell gran anything. Their son would hit me, take my things and all from the very start. The first time I was hit was when I burned the food. As time passed the beatings got more frequent and harsh..." She told Harry about how they would burn her hands, break her bones and whip her. She outlined her life, which made Harry want to kill someone, preferably Lyra's unc-relative. Lyra never called them uncle or aunt.

"...Gran died a week ago, the funeral was yesterday. He wa..was angry today. He was drunk, he whipped and punched me, and broke my ribs," here she rolled up her sleeves to show him whip marks. "Then..then he tr-tried to r..ra..rape me.." here she broke down into tears. Something in Harry snapped and he snarled causing Lyra to flinch. Harry visibly calmed himself down and pulled her against his chest in a hug. She stiffened for a moment before relaxing and crying her heart out. Harry held onto her, he didn't know why but he felt like protecting her, like tearing apart anyone who tried to hurt her.

"He..he couldn't, I had a burst of accidental magic that threw him out of the room. I quickly locked the door and packed my stuff. I jumped out from my window and then took a tube here, with whatever muggle money I had." Harry nodded, before rocking her. They both fell asleep in each other's arms.

The next morning Lyra woke up 2 hours later than her usual time at 6 in the morning, yes that means she usually wakes up at 4. Why? To study course, that luxury was not available during evenings for 10 years so it turned into a habit. Lyra heard a regular thumping as soon as she was partially awake. The noise made her fully awake and she noticed her position. She had fallen asleep on the chest of a boy. And not just any boy, it was Harry Potter- the Boy Who Lived.

She tried to get up without waking him up But the moment she moved Harry stirred and groggily opened his eyes. It took him some time but the moment he realized their position, he let go abruptly. Both sat up blushing furiously. There was an awkward silence.

WHOOSH!

The two teens turned to look as Fawkes appeared. He held out a letter for Lyra that she took. Fawkes flashed out. She opened it. It was from their headmaster. Albus-too many names-Dumbledore. It read-

_Dear Lyra_

_I am disappointed that you ran away from home. Your family was so distressed. Now please don't venture out of Leaky Cauldron as it is unsafe out there._

_From_

_Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore_

_Headmaster of Hogwarts_

_Supreme Mugwump_

_Chief Warlock_

Harry read over her shoulders, with permission of course. He looked intrigued, "He sent me almost the same letter, the moment I arrived here."

"But how did he know? And what did he mean by it being unsafe out there?" Lyra frowned at him.

"Well the minister was waiting for me when I arrived, so Dumbledore must know too. As for being unsafe, there's a mass murderer out there, Sirius Black."

"Sirius Black is magical?"

"Yeah, he was Voldemort's, right-hand man. Killed twelve muggles before he was captured."

"Oh!" but her mind was still on the letter. "You know you blew up your aunt, so the ministry was informed. But what about me? My accidental magic didn't trigger any ministry sensors but Dumbledore still found out. How?"

Harry considered her words. Lyra frowned until she suddenly exclaimed, "What if we are being tracked? I heard a few puffs mention tracking charms and such."

"It's possible. But I don't know how to detect one." Harry pondered.

"Well... some adult wizards can... House-elves!" she exclaimed, "House-elves can. But we don't have any." her shoulders dropped.

"I know one," Harry said excitedly.

"You do?"

"Yeah, I kind of helped free one. I am sure he would be able to help."

"You freed an elf?!" she almost screamed.

"Yeah, so what? Lucy Malfoy abused him," Harry defended.

"Well that's ok... but a house-elf needs to bond with a wizard or they die."

"WHAT?!"

"Yeah! Well, our common room is near the kitchen, so we see house-elves quite a lot especially for snacks. When I saw one, I thought it was slavery. But an older puff explained that the bond between a house-elf and a wizard is symbiotic. It sustains the house-elf and in return, they work for the wizard. If the bond is broken the elf goes weak and then mad before finally dying."

"I..I didn't know," Harry whispered.

"Well, you do now. I suggest you check on him" Harry nodded.

"Dobby!"

POP!

"The great master Harry Potter sir called Dobby! What can Dobby bes doing for great master Harry Potter sir?"

Lyra snorted at the obviously eccentric elf and its worship if Harry. Harry looked bemused.

"Dobby are you bonded?" He asked.

"No great master Harry Potter sir."

Harry sighed. "Dobby would you like to bond with me?"

"YES! Dobby bes wanting nothing more." The elf bobbed his head enthusiastically.

"Well, I have some rules. First no punishing yourself. If you did something wrong then we will discuss it. Second you will not wear that rag, instead, you will wear a uniform. Third I will pay you one galleon and you will get a day off every week." Harry told him.

"One knut and no day off," Dobby countered.

"Absolutely not. Ok, you get one galleon and two days off a month, and it's final. Oh and call me Harry," Harry said. Dobby nodded.

"So what do I have to do?" Harry asked.

"Sir be saying- I take Dobby as my house-elf"

"I Harry James Potter take Dobby as my House-elf and friend." Dobby's eyes widened. A flash of light later, Dobby was bonded to Harry. He grew a couple of inches and looked a lot healthier. Dobby snapped his fingers and his rag changed to a khaki military dress. Lyra snorted at that.

Harry suddenly grew serious "Now Dobby, this is Lyra. She thinks we are being tracked. Can you check if we have spells on us?"

"Dobby cans" He snapped his fingers and they felt a tingling sensation.

"Sir and miss be having lots of charms. There be tracking charms on your glasses and wands. There be loyalty charms. And finally, sir be having blood-based charms. And Dobby is sensing dark magic from sirs scar."

The teens grew angry before blanching at the last one. Lyra asked, "Dobby who cast them? And can you remove them?"

"Dobby cans and the charms be cast by Headmaster Whiskers. Except for the dark magic."

"Dumbledore?!" both yelled simultaneously.

"Dobby remove them," Harry ordered but Lyra stopped him. "No Dobby can you transfer them to something else. Say a quill?" Dobby nodded. "Then do that."

"Why?" Harry asked.

"Because if Dumbledore found the charms gone, he would instantly come here and obliviate us and reapply the charms. If they are transferred to something else and if we carry it with us all the time except when to sneak, then Dumbledore wouldn't suspect anything."

"Brilliant. How come your not a Slytherin?" Harry asked. Lyra blushed, "The hat wanted to put me in Slytherin, but Hagrid had said it was a house of the evil, so I convinced the hat that putting me in other house was more Slytherin tactic since no one would suspect."

"Wow! The hat wanted to put me in Slytherin too. But I had met Malfoy and Hagrid had also told me about how it was the house of evil. So I begged the hat to not put me into Slytherin." Harry chuckled.

So Dobby removed the charms to two quills and even switched Harry's blood with that of Dumbledore. The teens laughed at that. Dobby suggested them to go to Gringotts to get the dark magic checked and they both nodded.

Later in the afternoon, the two teens made their way to Gringotts. They made their way to the nearest teller.

"Er...good afternoon Mr. Garfunk," Lyra greeted the teller goblin after checking the nameplate.

"What do you want?"

"Er...we were hoping to meet the Potter Account Manager," Harry replied. Dobby had said that Harry had an account manager. The goblin peered at him closely before calling another goblin. The two of them conversed something in another language. Before the second goblin gestured them to follow.

"It's nice to see you again Mr. Griphook," both teens greeted the goblin, recognizing from their respective first times at the bank. The goblins all turned at them in shock. Few wizard or witch treated them with respect and very few even recognized them. "Er..its nice to see you again too Mr. Potter, Miss. Rivers."

The goblin led them to a door with the name Potter and knocked. They heard a sound and Griphook opened the door and ushered the two in. Inside there was a simple office and an old goblin sat in a chair across a desk. The goblin gestured them to sit. The two teens sat. Griphook bowed to the goblin and went out.

The goblin regarded the two teens before addressing Harry, "Mr. Potter I am Sharpclaw, the Potter Account Manager. What I would like to know is why haven't you answered our summons?"

"Er...Mr. Sharpclaw I never received any letter from Gringotts," Harry fidgeted nervously.

"What do you mean? We have sent bank statements every month after you turned eleven." The goblin looked at him angrily.

Lyra frowned at that.

"But I've never received any letter. I swear." Harry told the goblin.

"If I may, Mr. Sharpclaw, I think someone has been intercepting Harry's letters," Lyra spoke up.

The two veered at her sharply. "Intercepting Gringotts mail is a crime," the Goblin told her.

"Well...I have never seen Harry get too many letters, so..." Lyra bit her lips.

"What about Mr. Potter's fanmail."

"Er...never received any" Harry stuttered.

The goblin snarled. "Someone has put a mail ward on you."

"Can it be removed?" Harry asked. The goblin nodded. He opened a drawer and pulled out some parchments.

"This is your account details. But before I give you this, you must prove who you are. Please put a drop of blood in this parchment. It would outline your family tree and list any and all charms, spells etc. on you. Cost is 10 Galleons, will be taken from your vaults." He pushed a parchment and a dagger towards Harry. He took it and then looked at Lyra who gave him an encouraging smile. He pricked his finger and let a drop of blood fall on the parchment. The cut instantly healed and Harry picked up the parchment.

**Hadrian (Harry) James Potter**

**Father - James Charlus Potter** **(deceased)**

**Mother - Lily Marie Potter nee Evans** **(deceased)**

**Heir to Ancient and Most Noble House of Potter**** (Father)**

**Heir to Great House of Peverell** **(Father)**

**Magical Core- 50% bound**

**Magical Abilities**

**Parselmagic- 100% bound**

**Self Healing- 80% bound**

**Aura Sight- 100% bound**

**Natural Occlumency and Legilimency- 100% bound**

**Elemental (Fire)- 100% bound**

**Intelligence- 90% bound**

**{All bindings by Albus Dumbledore}**

**Blood-based Charms and Spells:**

**Tracking- Removed**

**Hating (keyed to Dursleys)- Removed**

**Heartbeat monitoring- Removed**

**Blood Wards- Power source**

**Mail Ward- Active**

**Contains a Soul piece (Tom Riddle)in the scar.**

Below it was his complete family tree.

"I have a piece of Voldemort's soul in my scar?" Harry stared at in shock. Lyra squeezed his hands in support.

"Why aren't you freaking out?" He demanded.

"Because you're my friend," Lyra stated simply. Harry stared at her in gratitude before handing the parchment to Sharpclaw. The goblin took it and began reading. His eyes widened and then he cursed.

"Erm...what is most ancient or whatever house?" Harry asked

"You don't know?" The goblin raised an eyebrow. At his shake of the head, he almost snarled. "Your magical guardian was supposed to tell you."

"I have a magical guardian?"

"Yes, Albus Dumbledore." Harry stared at Sharpclaw. "I can suggest some books that will help." Harry nodded.

"Can these bindings be removed?" Harry asked.

"Yes for a fee, but it will be painful," Sharpclaw told them.

"And the soul piece?" Lyra asked.

"It will require seven curse-breakers and will very painful. It will cost a lot but it won't put a dent in your fortune. Do you want to proceed?" He asked Harry.

"Yes!" Harry stated firmly. "Um...what do you mean by fortune? All I have is one vault" Harry asked.

Sharpclaw laughed, "That is only your trust vault. The Potter and Peverell family has many vaults, you can access them when you come of age or are emancipated earlier. I will give you your family portfolio before you leave. Your parent's Will was sealed, you can unseal it when you come of age or are emancipated." Harry nodded.

He turned to Lyra and said "Why don't you do it too. I'll pay." Lyra started to deny but Harry shook his head stubbornly. Finally, Lyra relented and picked up the dagger. Sharpclaw handed her another parchment. She pricked her finger and let a drop of blood fall on the parchment.

**Lyra Luna Andromeda Black**

**Father - Sirius Orion Black**

**Mother - Marlene Selina Black nee McKinnon (****deceased)**

**Heir to Ancient and Most Noble House of Black (Father)**

**Heir to Great House of Le Fey (Father)**

**Magical Core- 60% bound**

**Magical Abilities**

**Parselmagic- 100% bound**

**Self Healing- 90% bound**

**Illusion- 100% bound**

**Natural Occlumency and Legilimency- 100% bound**

**Elemental (Water)- 100% bound**

**Intelligence- 60% bound**

**Partial Metamorphmagus- 100% bound**

**{All bindings by Albus Dumbledore}**

**Blood-based Charms and Spells:**

**Tracking- Removed**

**Heartbeat monitoring- Removed**

Sharpclaw stared at the parchment in shock before he addressed them, "I will be back with the Black account manager." He got up and left.

Lyra sat it in shock. Harry put a comforting hand on her shoulders. She looked up with tears in her eyes.

"He-he was my father..." she choked.

"You are nothing like him. You are my friend and I know you not like him." Harry told her firmly. She grabbed him in a hug and muttered a heartfelt "Thank you!!"

Harry told her to get her bindings removed and she nodded. The door opened and Sharpclaw came back with another goblin.

"This is Grimtoe, the Black Account Manager." Sharpclaw introduced.

"Well met, Black Heiress. We have a lot to discuss." Grimtoe greeted Lyra.

"Um... Well met Mr. Grimtoe," Lyra stuttered.

"Just Grimtoe, there is no Mister," The goblin told her.

"You're Grimtoe as long as I am Lyra," Lyra smiled at him. Grimtoe nodded.

They decided to proceed with the removal of bindings, before doing anything else. So they were led to another chamber.

Three hours later they came back to Sharpclaw's office. They had decided to remove the soul piece before the bindings it had been extremely painful and Harry had fainted. Then their bindings had been removed. The goblins had suggested books to master their abilities.

Grimtoe gave Lyra the key to her trust vault. The two were given the heirs ring which turned invisible when they willed it.

The rings had their family crests embedded in it.

They left Gringotts to go for shopping. They shopped for books, clothes and even bought a new two-compartment trunk. They then had Dobby charm it to look like their old trunk.

**$End of Flashback$**

Harry lay down his bed thinking of their rather fun shopping trip. His thoughts were interrupted by Ron Weasely's muttering about cheaters. He ignored him and thought back to when he had found out about his so-called best friend's betrayal.

**$Flashback 3$**

Harry and Lyra sat in Harry's room looking through investments and parchments. They had already had a shock when they learned they were billionaires. Lyra decided to do some muggle investments in Apple, Microsoft, etc. The Potters already had investments in the muggle world. Harry and Lyra looked at recent withdrawals in their trust accounts and snarled.

Apparently, the Weasely's had been stealing from them. Molly Weasely had withdrawn about 5000 galleons every year from their trust vault since Harry's parents died and have kept it in a private vault under her maiden name of Molly Prewett. Ronald and Ginevra had been given 500 galleons a month since Harry's first year. There was another withdrawal of 5000 galleons every year to something called the Order of the Phoenix.

There was also an unsigned marriage contract between Harry and Ginny and a concubine agreement of all things between Ron and Lyra. That one had them screaming.

Harry wanted to hex them, but Lyra stopped him. She told him to wait and behave as though nothing had happened.

"...After all, Harry, Revenge is a dish best served cold."

**$End of Flashback$**

And looks like their time of revenge had finally arrived.

**AN: Phew... Review, please. Oh, and next chapter is gonna be a flashback on their third year.**


	2. Past: Part 1

**AN: Firstly Thank you the readers I never had so many people follow or favorite my stories. I am very grateful to those that took their time to review.** **And I am sorry but the updates are going to be sporadic as I am having eye troubles.**

**Now in this story, Marlene is going to be a muggle born instead of half-blood.**

**Also, the third year of Harry will be explained in two to three parts. So this is essentially Third year part 1.**

**Disclaimer: Not mine**

CHAPTER 2: Past - Part 1

Harry and Lyra had already bought their school books and in Harry's case, Hagrid had gifted him his COMC book- a monster book that tried to bite his hands off.

Harry and Lyra were sitting in her room in Leaky Cauldron. They were currently trying to control their new power levels and failing miserably.

"Lumos!" Harry tried again. The light again succeeded in temporarily blinding them. "Nox! Ok, this is getting irritating," He complained.

"Just keep on practicing. Lumos!" Lyra finally succeeded in controlling her powers. "See. It's easy, just try to restrict your power flow. I imagined my magic coming in trickles and it actually worked." Harry nodded and tried again. He got it a right on the second try. They spent a few more minutes practicing the Lumos before moving onto other spells.

After days of hard work, they could finally control their new powers. Then they moved onto learning occlumency. Occlumency prevented people from entering one's mind and viewing their memories. But natural occlumens had the additional ability to create false mind, a place filled with false or unimportant memories. It also meant that each memory was copied the moment it was generated and safeguarded against memory charms. It meant that suppose a natural occlumens saw an incident, then that incident will be immediately stored in their minds and a copy will be stored in the false mind until it is removed by the occlumens. Then if someone obliviated them then only the copied memory in the false mind will be removed.

The first step to occlumency was to imagine a mindscape. Harry after some thoughts decided on a maze to confuse the intruder. Lyra imagined her mindscape as Aslan's How from C.S. Lewis's Narnia. The next step was to sort through their memories. This was the most time consuming and difficult step for them.

Harry imagined boxes and trunks inside the maze where he kept his memories. These boxes were present at the most confusing turns and were locked. Lyra, on the other hand, took a different approach. She imagined a bookshelf inside the How and filled it with all the information she had learned from books and school, that is everything related to studies was put in those books. The other memories she imagined as characters. For example, all of her happiest memories were stored as Lucy while her memories of abuse became Edmund. The other memories became dryads and naiads, dwarves and centaurs, etc. Her most important memories became Aslan.

While sorting Harry came across the memory of that fateful Halloween.

_"Lily, take Harry and go! It's him! Go! Run! I'll hold him off —"_

_A woman with red hair,_ _Lily, goes to Harry's room where he is in his crib._

_The door bursts open. Voldemort gives a cackle of high-pitched laughter_

_"Not Harry, not Harry, please not Harry!"_

"_Stand aside, you silly girl … stand aside now."_

"_Not Harry, please no, take me, kill me instead —– "_

_"Not Harry! Please … have mercy … have mercy…"_

_Voldemort laughs in a shrill voice._

_"Avada Kedavra"_

_Lily screams. Then Voldemort turns towards Harry._

_Avada Kedavra"_

_Harry remembers a blinding green flash and a burning pain in his forehead, then a high, cold cruel laugh._

Harry opened his eyes and gasped.

"Harry, what happened?" Lyra asked concerned. Harry relayed what he saw and Lyra gasped. She pulled him into a comforting hug.

"He came f-for me," Harry gasped into her hairs as tears trickled down his cheeks. Lyra hugged him tighter knowing that words weren't enough to soothe it. It took Harry about half an hour to calm down. Then they resumed sorting.

About four hours later, they were almost finished when Lyra came across the very last memory which her subconscious had buried deep.

_A woman with jet black hair and blue eyes walked through the streets holding a baby. Suddenly there were several cracks. The woman spun around to see several masked men entering a house._

_"No! Mum! Dad!" the woman screamed._

_She made to run towards the house but stopped. She put the baby down and fished her pockets for something. She pulled out a red and gold feather._

_"Lyra, love Mama must go save your grandpappy and granny. Take care love, be safe..." the woman kissed the baby's forehead and put the feather on her. Tears trickled down her cheeks._

_"The light will triumph!"_

_Lyra__ was portkeyed away as the woman ran to the house._

_The portkey took the Lyra to an office. An old man with long white beard and twinkling blue eyes wearing a garish purple robe and half-moon spectacles peered over her._

_"Hmmm..." He waved his wand in a complex manner and Lyra suddenly felt suffocated. He took her and apparated to a familiar place. It was a street filled with sub-urban houses. He put Lyra on the doorstep of the number 8._

_He waved his wand again in an intricate manner, nodded and apparated away._

"Lyra! Ly! Lyra open your eyes!"

Lyra's eyes flew open in shock she hadn't even realized she had been screaming. Angry tears stung her eyes but she refused to let them fall.

"Are you alright?" Harry asked gently. Lyra shook her head.

"It was Dumbledore. He...he put me at the doorstep of _tha..that place," _she spat. "My mum portkeyed me to, what I presume is, his office. My mum was in danger, I...I think she di-died in that attack. And he didn't even help. THAT BASTARD LET HER DIE!" She was screaming at the end.

Harry tried to calm her down. "We'll deal with him later. Calm down, Ly!" He rubbed circles in her back.

Lyra did calm down, after hearing the nickname that is. She fought back the blush only for her hair to turn red. She groaned thankful that Harry was as oblivious as he was.

Xxxx...

That evening, the two of them sat building their mental defenses. Harry built a brick wall around his maze. He then put up a board saying 'KEEP OUT'. The wall was then further protected by another wall made of fire. He then put up traps inside his maze. He imagined dragons and basilisks to guard his maze. He hoped to be able to add more creatures to guard his memories.

Lyra imagined her mindscape inside a wardrobe. She then imagined it to become invisible. She added a password in Parseltongue, "May Aslan be with you." Only the password could take a person to Aslan's How. Then she imagined the wardrobe inside a room with many doors, each leading to a trap. Finally, she imagined a dark cloud surrounding the room that will attack anyone entering her mind with a lightning bolt and rain. Then inside her mindscape, she imagined traps to catch the intruder. She even imagined swords and stuff and filled them with false memories. All the creatures and the four humans had weapons with them to fight off the intruders. The only way to access her memories by an intruder was to kill the character. And this she prevented by putting another safeguard that made any intruder that entered her mind into a miniature unarmed version of themselves.

They were done by dinner time. There natural affinity for occlumency sped up the process by many times. While a normal person would take months to reach this stage, it took them only two weeks.

Lyra practiced day and night after that, to eject mental probe using lightning until it became a reflex controlled by her subconscious.

The two of them later created a false mind. It was like a room with false and unimportant memories floating about it. They then made it so that anyone trying to enter their minds would be shunted to it.

Xxxxx...

The next two weeks were spent learning legilimency and in Lyra's case controlling her metamorphmagus powers.

Being a partial metamorph meant that she had a base from which a full metamorphmagus lacked. She also couldn't change her height and bulk by more than a few inches. And finally, she couldn't change her age and gender that full metamorphmagus could. But she still had a lot of benefits from being a metamorphmagus.

But as days passed, Lyra discovered a rather irritating drawback of being a metamorphmagus. Her coordination suffered from the change. She became prone to tripping over things and sometimes knocking things over. Still, it wasn't as bad as full metamorphs.

She had a lot more control in her changes as it required a lot of concentration on her part to change even the littlest thing. Only very strong emotions could change her hair and eye colors spontaneously. Like when she was blushing from Harry's action or words, which happened often but she was able to get it under her control rather quickly. Her occlumency helped a lot as it gave her more control over her emotions.

Their progress in legilimency was rather slow going. This was because occlumency and legilimency were like polar opposites. And since both were good at one they were having trouble over the other. The books said it will go away eventually and they will become equally skilled in both.

They practiced legilimency on each other trusting the other to keep whatever they saw, a secret. The first time Harry was able to enter Lyra's mind was rather amusing. He entered her mind after about twenty tries only to go flying back out. He literally flew back and landed on his butt. Lyra didn't know whether to be horrified or amused. She finally settled for being amused and laughed herself silly.

"Shut up!" Harry grumbled.

"S-sorry!" she gasped out in between her laughter, "I never imagined it would produce such a...such a physical reaction."

"Laugh it up chuckles. But revenge will be mine," Harry growled.

"Really? What will you do? Fall on your butt-" she squealed and ran off as Harry began chasing her. They moved in a circle until Harry turned around and caught her. He then proceeded to tickle her until she cried.

"Say sorry and I'll let you up!" Harry grinned and stopped tickling.

"Ok..ok I am sorry," Lyra waited until Harry got off her and pulled both of them up, "I am sorry that I didn't bruise your butt more," and ran off. Harry growled and took off after her and the chase continued.

Xxxxx...

The two teens' fun time ended when Harry's friends joined him. Lyra had already warned Harry to behave normally around the Weasleys. And due to the removal of the bind on his intelligence Harry heeded her words and displayed the cunning for which the hat wanted to put him in Slytherin.

Harry woke on the last day of the holidays, thinking that he would have to meet Ron and Hermione tomorrow, on the Hogwarts Express. He got up and dressed and joined Lyra for breakfast. They spent the last day traveling around the alley and eating ice creams.

Lyra saw Weasley and Granger and nudged Harry. "Harry Weasley and Granger are here, I'll see you in your room at night. Remember, don't let them get suspicious." Lyra quietly left as Harry nodded and turned around just as he heard a shout.

"Harry! HARRY!"

They were there, both of them, sitting outside Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor - Ron looking incredibly freckly, Hermione very brown, both waving frantically at him. Harry used his occlumency to reign in his temper at seeing Ron.

"Finally!" said Ron, grinning at Harry as he sat down. "We went to the Leaky Cauldron, but they said you'd left, and we went to Flourish and Blotts, and Madam Malkin's, and -"

"I got all my school stuff last week," Harry explained. "And how come you knew I'm staying at the Leaky Cauldron?"

"Dad," said Ron simply.

Mr. Weasley, who worked at the Ministry of Magic, would, of course, have heard the whole story of what had happened to Aunt Marge.

"Did you really blow up your aunt, Harry?" said Hermione in a very serious voice.

"I didn't mean to," said Harry, while Ron roared with laughter. "I just - lost control. "

"It's not funny, Ron," said Hermione sharply. "Honestly, I'm amazed Harry wasn't expelled. "

"So am I," admitted Harry. "Forget expelled, I thought I was going to be arrested. " He looked at Ron. "Your dad doesn't know why Fudge let me off, does he?"

"Probably 'cause it's you, isn't it?" shrugged Ron, still chuckling. "Famous Harry Potter and all that. I'd hate to see what the Ministry do to me if I blew up an aunt. Mind you, they'd have to dig me up first, because Mum would've killed me. Anyway, you can ask Dad yourself this evening. We're staying at the Leaky Cauldron tonight too! So you can come to King's Cross with us tomorrow! Hermione's there as well!"

Hermione nodded, beaming. "Mum and Dad dropped me off this morning with all my Hogwarts things. "

"Excellent!" said Harry happily. "So, have you got all your new books and stuff?"

"Look at this," said Ron, pulling a long thin box out of a bag and opening it. "Brand-new wand. Fourteen inches, willow, containing one unicorn tail-hair. And we've got all our books -" He pointed at a large bag under his chair. "What about those Monster Books, eh? The assistant nearly cried when we said we wanted two. "

"What's all that, Hermione?" Harry asked, pointing at not one but three bulging bags in the chair next to her.

"Well, I'm taking more new subjects than you, aren't I," said Hermione. "Those are my books for Arithmancy, Care of Magical Creatures, Divination, the Study of Ancient Runes, Muggle Studies -"

"What are you doing Muggle Studies for?" said Ron, rolling his eyes at Harry. "You're Muggle-born! Your mum and dad are Muggles! You already know all about Muggles!"

"But it'll be fascinating to study them from the wizarding point of view," said Hermione earnestly.

"Are you planning to eat or sleep at all this year, Hermione?" asked Harry, while Ron sniggered. Hermione ignored them.

"I've still got ten Galleons," she said, checking her purse. "It's my birthday in September, and Mum and Dad gave me some money to get myself an early birthday present. "

"How about a nice book? said Ron innocently.

"No, I don't think so," said Hermione composedly. "I really want an owl. I mean, Harry's got Hedwig and you've got Errol -"

"I haven't," said Ron. "Errol's a family owl. All I've got is Scabbers. " He pulled his pet rat out of his pocket. "And I want to get him checked over," he added, placing Scabbers on the table in front of them. "I don't think Egypt agreed with him. "

Scabbers was looking thinner than usual, and there was a definite droop to his whiskers.

"There's a magical creature shop just over there," said Harry, who knew Diagon Alley very well by now. "You could see if they've got anything for Scabbers, and Hermione can get her owl. "

So they paid for their ice cream and crossed the street to the Magical Menagerie.

There wasn't much room inside. Every inch of wall was hidden by cages. It was smelly and very noisy because the occupants of these cages were all squeaking, squawking, jabbering, or hissing. The witch behind the counter was already advising a wizard on the care of double-ended newts, so Harry, Ron, and Hermione waited, examining the cages.

A pair of enormous purple toads sat gulping wetly and feasting on dead blowflies. A gigantic tortoise with a jewel-encrusted shell was glittering near the window. Poisonous orange snails were oozing slowly up the side of their glass tank, and a fat white rabbit kept changing into a silk top hat and back again with a loud popping noise. Then there were cats of every color, a noisy cage of ravens, a basket of funny custard-colored furballs that were humming loudly, and on the counter, a vast cage of sleek black rats that were playing some sort of skipping game using their long, bald tails.

The double-ended newt wizard left, and Ron approached the counter.

"It's my rat," he told the witch. "He's been a bit off-color ever since I brought him back from Egypt. "

"Put him on the counter," said the witch, pulling a pair of heavy black spectacles out of her pocket.

Ron lifted Scabbers out of his inside pocket and placed him next to the cage of his fellow rats, who stopped their skipping tricks and scuffled to the wire for a better took.

Like nearly everything Ron owned, Scabbers the rat was secondhand (he had once belonged to Ron's brother Percy) and a bit battered. Next to the glossy rats in the cage, he looked especially woebegone.

"Hm," said the witch, picking up Scabbers. "How old is this rat?"

"Dunno," said Ron. "Quite old. He used to belong to my brother. "

"What powers does he have?" said the witch, examining Scabbers closely.

"Er -" The truth was that Scabbers had never shown the faintest trace of interesting powers. The witch's eyes moved from Scabbers's tattered left ear to his front paw, which had a toe missing, and tutted loudly.

"He's been through the mill, this one," she said.

"He was like that when Percy gave him to me," said Ron defensively.

"An ordinary common or garden rat like this can't be expected to live longer than three years or so," said the witch and Harry frowned. "Now, if you were looking for something a bit more hard-wearing, you might like one of these -"

She indicated the black rats, who promptly started skipping again. Ron muttered, "Show-offs. "

"Well, if you don't want a replacement, you can try this rat tonic," said the witch, reaching under the counter and bringing out a small red bottle.

"Okay," said Ron. "How much - OUCH!"

Ron buckled as something huge and orange came soaring from the top of the highest cage, landed on his head, and then propelled itself, spitting madly, at Scabbers.

"NO, CROOKSHANKS, NO!" cried the witch, but Scabbers shot from between her hands like a bar of soap, landed splay-legged on the floor, and then scampered for the door.

"Scabbers!" Ron shouted, racing out of the shop after him; Harry followed knowing it was expected of him.

It took them nearly ten minutes to catch Scabbers, who had taken refuge under a wastepaper bin outside Quality Quidditch Supplies. Ron stuffed the trembling rat back into his pocket and straightened up, massaging his head.

"What was that?"

"It was either a very big cat or quite a small tiger," said Harry.

"Where's Hermione?"

"Probably getting her owl. "

They made their way back up the crowded street to the Magical Menagerie. As they reached it, Hermione came out, but she wasn't carrying an owl. Her arms were clamped tightly around the enormous ginger cat.

"You bought that monster?" said Ron, his mouth hanging open.

"He's gorgeous, isn't he?" said Hermione, glowing.

That was a matter of opinion, thought Harry. The cat's ginger fur was thick and fluffy, but it was definitely a bit bowlegged and its face looked grumpy and oddly squashed, as though it had run headlong into a brick wall. Now that Scabbers was out of sight, however, the cat was purring contentedly in Hermione's arms.

"Hermione, that thing nearly scalped me!" said Ron. _And it has earned my respect for that, _thought Harry.

"He didn't mean to, did you, Crookshanks?" said Hermione.

"And what about Scabbers?" said Ron, pointing at the lump in his chest pocket. "He needs rest and relaxation! How's he going to get it with that thing around?"

"That reminds me, you forgot your rat tonic," said Hermione, slapping the small red bottle into Ron's hand. "And stop worrying, Crookshanks will be sleeping in my dormitory and Scabbers in yours, what's the problem? Poor Crookshanks, that witch said he'd been in there for ages; no one wanted him. "

"Wonder why," said Ron sarcastically as they set off toward the Leaky Cauldron.

They found Mr. Weasley sitting in the bar, reading the Daily Prophet.

"Harry!" he said, smiling as he looked up. "How are you?"

"Fine, thanks," said Harry as he, Ron, and Hermione joined Mr. Weasley with their shopping. Harry and Lyra had discussed the rest of the Weasley families role in the thievery and they both decided to hold the rest of them blameless until they proved otherwise.

Mr. Weasley put down his paper, and Harry saw the now familiar picture of Sirius Black staring up at him.

"They still haven't caught him, then?" he asked.

"No," said Mr. Weasley, looking extremely grave. "They've pulled us all off our regular jobs at the Ministry to try and find him, but no luck so far. "

"Would we get a reward if we caught him?" asked Ron. "It'd be good to get some more money -"

"Don't be ridiculous, Ron," said Mr. Weasley, who on closer inspection looked very strained. "Black's not going to be caught by a thirteen-year-old wizard. It's the Azkaban guards who'll get him back, You mark my words. "

At that moment Mrs. Weasley entered the bar, laden with shopping bags and followed by the twins, Fred and George, who were about to start their fifth year at Hogwarts; the newly elected Head Boy, Percy; and the Weasleys' youngest child and only girl, Ginny.

Ginny, who had always been very taken with Harry, seemed even more heartily embarrassed than usual when she saw him, perhaps because he had saved her life during their previous year at Hogwarts. She went very red and muttered "Hello" without looking at him for which Harry was thankful. He didn't want to deal with another fangirl. Percy, however, held out his hand solemnly as though he and Harry had never met and said, "Harry. How nice to see you. "

"Hello, Percy," said Harry, trying not to laugh.

"I hope you're well?" said Percy pompously, shaking hands. It was rather like being introduced to the mayor.

"Very well, thanks -"

"Harry!" said Fred, elbowing Percy out of the way and bowing deeply. "Simply splendid to see you, old boy -"

"Marvelous," said George, pushing Fred aside and seizing Harry's hand in turn. "Absolutely spiffing. "

Percy scowled.

"That's enough, now," said Mrs. Weasley and Harry had to again employ occlumency to keep himself from showing his anger.

"Mum!" said Fred, as though he'd only just spotted her and seizing her hand, too. "How really corking to see you -"

"I said, that's enough," said Mrs. Weasley, depositing her shopping in an empty chair. "Hello, Harry, dear. I suppose you've heard our exciting news?" She pointed to the brand-new silver badge on Percy's chest. "Second Head Boy in the family!" she said, swelling with pride.

"And last," Fred muttered under his breath.

I don't doubt that," said Mrs. Weasley, frowning suddenly. "I notice they haven't made you two prefects. "

"What do we want to be prefects for?" said George, looking revolted at the very idea. "It'd take all the fun out of life. "

Ginny giggled.

"You want to set a better example for your sister!" snapped Mrs. Weasley.

"Ginny's got other brothers to set her an example, Mother," said Percy loftily. "I'm going up to change for dinner. . . "

He disappeared and George heaved a sigh.

"We tried to shut him in a pyramid," he told Harry. "But Mum spotted us. "

Xxxxx...

Dinner that night was a very boisterous affair. Tom the innkeeper put three tables together in the parlor, and the seven Weasleys, Harry, and Hermione ate their way through five delicious courses. Harry had seen Lyra leave just as the Weasleys had come in.

"How're we getting to King's Cross tomorrow, Dad?" asked Fred as they dug into sumptuous chocolate pudding.

"The Ministry's providing a couple of cars," said Mr. Weasley.

Everyone looked up at him.

"Why?" said Percy curiously.

"It's because of you, Perce," said George seriously. "And there'll be little flags on the hoods, with HB on them-"

"- for Humongous Bighead," said Fred.

Everyone except Percy and Mrs. Weasley snorted into their pudding.

"Why is the Ministry providing cars, Father?" Percy asked again, in a dignified voice.

"Well, as we haven't got one anymore," said Mr. Weasley, "and as I work there, they're doing me a favor. . . "

His voice was casual, but Harry couldn't help noticing that Mr. Wesley's ears had gone red, just like Ron's did when he was under pressure.

"Good thing, too," said Mrs. Weasley briskly. "Do you realize how much luggage you've all got between you? A nice sight you'd be on the Muggle Underground. . . You are all packed, aren't you?"

"Ron hasn't put all his new things in his trunk yet," said Percy, in a long-suffering voice. "He's dumped them on my bed. "

"You'd better go and pack properly, Ron, because we won't have much time in the morning," Mrs. Weasley called down the table. Ron scowled at Percy.

After dinner, everyone felt very full and sleepy. One by one they made their way upstairs to their rooms to check their things for the next day. Ron and Percy were next doors to Harry. He had just closed and locked his own trunk when he heard angry voices through the wall, and went to see what was going on.

The door of number twelve was ajar and Percy was shouting.

"It was here, on the bedside table, I took it off for polishing -"

"I haven't touched it, all right?" Ron roared back.

"What's up?" said Harry.

"My Head Boy badge is gone," said Percy, rounding on Harry.

"So's Scabbers's Rat Tonic," said Ron, throwing things out of his trunk to look. "I think I might've left it in the bar -"

"You're not going anywhere till you've found my badge!" yelled Percy.

"I'll get Scabbers's stuff, I'm packed," Harry said to Ron, and he went downstairs.

Harry was halfway along the passage to the bar, which was now very dark, when he heard another pair of angry voices coming from the parlor. A second later, he recognized them as Mr. and Mrs. Weasleys". He hesitated, not wanting them to know he'd heard them arguing when the sound of his own name made him stop, then move closer to the parlor door.

". . . makes no sense not to tell him," Mr. Weasley was saying heatedly. "Harry's got a right to know. I've tried to tell Fudge, but he insists on treating Harry like a child. He's thirteen years old and -"

"Arthur, the truth would terrify him!" said Mrs. Weasley shrilly. "Do you really want to send Harry back to school with that hanging over him? For heaven's sake, he's happy not knowing!"

"I don't want to make him miserable, I want to put him on his guard!" retorted Mr. Weasley. "You know what Harry and Ron are like, wandering off by themselves - they've ended up in the Forbidden Forest twice! But Harry mustn't do that this year! When I think what could have happened to him that night he ran away from home! If the Knight Bus hadn't picked him up, I'm prepared to bet he would have been dead before the Ministry found him. "

"But he's not dead, he's fine, so what's the point -"

"Molly, they say Sirius Black's mad, and maybe he is, but he was clever enough to escape from Azkaban, and that's supposed to be impossible. It's been three weeks, and no one's seen hide nor hair of him, and I don't care what Fudge keeps telling the Daily Prophet, we're no nearer catching Black than inventing self-spelling wands. The only thing we know for sure is what Black's after -"

"But Harry will be perfectly safe at Hogwarts. "

"We thought Azkaban was perfectly safe. If Black can break out of Azkaban, he can break into Hogwarts. "

"But no one's really sure that Black's after Harry -"

There was a thud on wood, and Harry was sure Mr. Weasley had banged his fist on the table.

"Molly, how many times do I have to tell you? They didn't report it in the press because Fudge wanted it kept quiet, but Fudge went out to Azkaban the night Black escaped. The guards told Fudge that Blacks been talking in his sleep for a while now. Always the same words: "He's at Hogwarts. . . he's at Hogwarts. " Black is deranged, Molly, and he wants Harry dead. If you ask me, he thinks murdering Harry will bring You-Know-Who back to power. Black lost everything the night Harry stopped You-Know-Who, and he's had twelve years alone in Azkaban to brood on that. . . "

There was silence. Harry leaned still closer to the door, desperate to hear more.

"Well, Arthur, you must do what you think is right. But you're forgetting Albus Dumbledore. I don't think anything could hurt Harry at Hogwarts while Dumbledore's Headmaster. I suppose he knows about all this?"

"Of course he knows. We had to ask him if he minds the Azkaban guards stationing themselves around the entrances to the school grounds. He wasn't happy about it, but he agreed. "

"Not happy? Why shouldn't he be happy, if they're there to catch Black?"

"Dumbledore isn't fond of the Azkaban guards," said Mr. Weasley heavily. "Nor am I, if it comes to that. . . but when you're dealing with a wizard-like Black, you sometimes have to join forces with those you'd rather avoid. "

"If they save Harry -"

"... then I will never say another word against them, said Mr. Weasley wearily. "It's late, Molly, we'd better go up. . . "

Harry heard chairs move. As quietly as he could, he hurried down the passage to the bar and out of sight. The parlor door opened, and a few seconds later footsteps told him that Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were climbing the stairs.

The bottle of rat tonic was lying under the table they had sat at earlier. Harry waited until he heard Mr. and Mrs. Wesley's bedroom door close, then headed back upstairs with the bottle.

Fred and George were crouching in the shadows on the landing, heaving with laughter as they listened to Percy dismantling his and Ron's room in search of his badge.

"We've got it," Fred whispered to Harry. "We've been improving it. "

The badge now read Bighead Boy.

Harry forced a laugh, went to give Ron the rat tonic, then shut himself in his room and lay down on his bed.

So Sirius Black was after him. This explained everything. Fudge had been lenient with him because he was so relieved to find him alive. He'd made Harry promise to stay in Diagon Alley where there were plenty of wizards to keep an eye on him. And he was sending two Ministry cars to take them all to the station tomorrow so that the Weasleys could look after Harry until he was on the train.

Harry lay listening to the muffled shouting next door and wondered why he didn't feel more scared. Sirius Black had murdered thirteen people with one curse; Mr. and Mrs., Weasley obviously thought Harry would be panic-stricken if he knew the truth. But Harry wasn't, not after so many attempts on his life. He knew that every year there was something life threatening at Hogwarts and the wizarding sheep's waited for him to take care of it.

And then there were these Azkaban guards everyone kept talking about. They seemed to scare most people senseless, and if they were stationed all around the school, Black's chances of getting inside seemed very remote.No, all in all, the thing that bothered Harry most was the fact that his chances of visiting Hogsmeade now looked like zero. Nobody would want Harry to leave the safety of the castle until Black was caught; in fact, Harry suspected his every move would be carefully watched until the danger had passed.

He scowled at the dark ceiling. Did they think he couldn't look after himself? He'd escaped Lord Voldemort three times; he wasn't completely useless. . . .

Unbidden, the image of the beast in the shadows of Magnolia Crescent crossed his mind. What to do when you know the worst is coming. . .

"I'm not going to be murdered," Harry said out loud.

"Why would you be?" Lyra's voice almost made him jump out of his skin. Harry sat up and relayed what happened and what he heard. Lyra set her jaws and looked Harry in the eyes.

"To get to you Black would have to go through me," she promised and Harry knew she would move heaven and hell to keep it.

"Listen, we won't get the chance to talk much at Hogwarts. But I know a room where we can meet. It is on the fifth floor. No one goes there, we will be undisturbed..."

Lyra and Harry talked for a few more minutes before Lyra bid him goodnight.

Xxxx...

On September first, Lyra bid goodbye to Harry with a promise to meet at Hogwarts and left in the morning. She took a tube to King's Cross station and reached Platform 9-and-three quarters around 10 in the morning. She secured herself a compartment in the front and was soon joined by a blonde claw, her best friend, Luna Lovegood. She was a bit eccentric. There were nine puffs in her year excluding herself, she generally sat with Luna in their shared classes. The blonde was rather fun and talked in riddles comprising of mysterious animals. She was bullied by her fellow claws and Lyra had a lot of times fought them off. But Luna refused to tell any teachers and Lyra didn't want to lose her only friend. Growing up she hadn't had friends as her so-called cousin had frightened them away.

"Hi Lu, how was your summer?"

"Daddy and I went on an expedition to find a crumpled horned snorcack. We didn't but I know we will one day. I see you were able to escape from nargles. And you seem to have a lot fewer wrackspurts this year."

"Er..yeah" Lyra knew that the blonde talked in riddles and codes. She vowed to decipher them one day.

The two spent the rest of the journey chatting lightly and reading. They suddenly felt the train stop. "We can't have arrived yet," Lyra mused as they began to feel cold.

"What's going on?" Lyra asked as Luna began to shake in fear muttering "No mummy...No". Lyra had no idea what to do and she tried to rock the girl to calm her. The cold receded after a few minutes and Luna began to relax.

"That was dementors," Luna was finally calm enough to explain what it was and they spent the rest of the ride silently until they reached the school...

**TO BE CONTINUED...**

**AN: Well hope you liked it.**

**And Heartglow, they know Sirius is innocent by the end of their third year... It will be explained, don't worry...**


	3. Past: Part 2

**AN: Dear readers, the doctor has told me to give my eyes as much rest as I can, so I have decided to post every three days to prevent eye strain. So please be a little patient...**

**Now I have decided on the pairings:**

**HP/OC, NL/TD/DG, BZ/SB, etc. There are other side pairings but these are the main. There is going to be mention of slash. But NO mpreg. **

**Disclaimer: NOT mine.**

CHAPTER 3: PAST: Part 3

The day after arriving at school Harry and Lyra had claimed the unused room on the fifth floor. They had gotten Dobby to ward the room and even put a password lock on the door. The room was fairly large and it led to two more rooms. Both teens thought that it might have been an ensuite.

They both liked their new Defense professor, Remus Lupin, who acknowledged Harry's problems with the dementor and promised to teach him the Patronus charm. Of course, Harry ended up teaching it to Lyra. Although neither could produce a corporeal Patronus.

There were some incidents were Lyra had been almost scared to death for Harry's life. One had been the dementor attack on Harry during a quidditch match with puffs. And Lyra had screamed watching Harry fall. She had run to the infirmary as soon as it had been empty and had proceeded to almost hug Harry to death. The other incidents had been Sirius Black's attempt to infiltrate Hogwarts.

Harry had also been handed the Marauder's map by the Weasely twins and both Lyra and Harry had spent time wondering how to hide Lyra's surname in case someone ever saw it. In the end, Dobby had charmed the parchment to show Lyra's muggle name.

Xxxx...

Lyra had just finished her exams and was heading back to her common room when Dobby popped to her.

"Missy Lyry bes hurrying, Master Harry sir bes in danger. It's Black!"

"Quick Dobby tell me where are they?"

"They are in Shrieking Shack. Dobby cans take Missy there."

Lyra nodded, "Dobby cast charms to hide me so that I am neither seen nor heard or smelt by anyone." Dobby snapped his finger and then popped the two of them away.

Xxxx...

Lyra came just in time to hear **Lupin say, "The Marauder's Map. I was in my office examining it -"**

**"You know how to work it?" Harry said suspiciously.**

**"Of course I know how to work it," said Lupin, waving his hand impatiently. "I helped write it. I'm Moony - that was my friends' nickname for me at school. "**

**"You wrote -?"**

**"The important thing is, I was watching it carefully this evening because I had an idea that you, Ron, and Hermione might try and sneak out of the castle to visit Hagrid before his Hippogriff was executed. And I was right, wasn't I?"**

**He had started to pace up and down, looking at them. Little patches of dust rose at his feet.**

**"You might have been wearing your father's old cloak, Harry-"**

**"How d'you know about the cloak?"**

**"The number of times I saw James disappearing under it. . . " said Lupin, waving an impatient hand again. "The point is, even if you're wearing an Invisibility Cloak, you still show up on the Marauder's Map. I watched you cross the grounds and enter Hagrid's hut. Twenty minutes later, you left Hagrid and set off back toward the castle. But you were now accompanied by somebody else. "**

**"What?"** said Harry thinking about Lyra before remembering she had an exam. **"No, we weren't!"**

**"I couldn't believe my eyes," said Lupin, still pacing, and ignoring Harry's interruption. "I thought the map must be malfunctioning. How could he be with you?"**

**"No one was with us!" said Harry.**

**"And then I saw another dot, moving fast toward you, labeled Sirius Black. . . I saw him collide with you; I watched as he pulled two of you into the Whomping Willow -"**

**"One of us!" Ron said angrily.**

**"No, Ron," said Lupin. "Two of you. "**

**He had stopped his pacing, his eyes moving over Ron.**

**"Do you think I could have a look at the rat?" he said evenly.**

**"What?" said Ron. "What's Scabbers got to do with it?"**

**"Everything," said Lupin. "Could I see him, please?"**

**Ron hesitated, then put a hand inside his robes. Scabbers emerged, thrashing desperately; Ron had to seize his long bald tail to stop him escaping. Crookshanks stood up on Black's leg and made a soft hissing noise.**

**Lupin moved closer to Ron. He seemed to be holding his breath as he gazed intently at Scabbers.**

**"What?" Ron said again, holding Scabbers close to him, looking scared. "What's my rat got to do with anything?"**

**"That's not a rat," croaked Sirius Black suddenly.**

**"What d'you mean - of course, he's a rat -"**

**"No, he's not," said Lupin quietly. "He's a wizard. "**

**"An Animagus," said Black, "by the name of Peter Pettigrew. "** Lyra gasped and was thankful for the silencing charm around her. **It took a few seconds for the absurdity of this statement to sink in. Then Ron voiced what Harry was thinking.**

**"You're both metals."**

**"Ridiculous!" said Hermione faintly.**

**"Peter Pettigrew's dead!" said Harry. "He killed him twelve years ago!" He pointed at Black, whose face twitched convulsively.**

**"I meant to," he growled, his yellow teeth bared, "but little Peter got the better of me. . . not this time, though!"**

**And Crookshanks was thrown to the floor as Black lunged at Scabbers; Ron yelled with pain as Black's weight fell on his broken leg.**

**"Sirius, NO!" Lupin yelled, launching himself forwards and dragging Black away from Ron again, "WAIT! You can't do it just like that - they need to understand - we've got to explain -"**

**"We can explain afterward!" snarled Black, trying to throw Lupin off. One hand was still clawing the air as it tried to reach Scabbers, who was squealing like a piglet, scratching Ron's face and neck as he tried to escape.**

**"They've - got - a - right - to - know - everything!" Lupin panted, still trying to restrain Black. "Ron's kept him as a pet! There are parts of it even I don't understand, and Harry - you owe Harry the truth, Sirius!"**

**Black stopped struggling, though his hollowed eyes were still fixed on Scabbers, who was clamped tightly under Ron's bitten, scratched, and bleeding hands.**

**"All right, then," Black said, without taking his eyes off the rat.**

**"Tell them whatever you like. But make it quick, Remus. I want to commit the murder I was imprisoned for. . . "**

**"You're nutters, both of you," said Ron shakily, looking around at Harry and Hermione for support. "I've had enough of this. I'm off. "**

**He tried to heave himself up on his good leg, but Lupin raised his wand again, pointing it at Scabbers.**

**"You're going to hear me out, Ron," he said quietly. "Just keep a tight hold on Peter while you listen. "**

**"HE'S NOT PETER, HE'S SCABBERS!" Ron yelled, trying to force the rat back into his front pocket, but Scabbers was fighting too hard; Ron swayed and overbalanced, and Harry caught him being pushed him back down to the bed. Then, ignoring Black, Harry turned to Lupin.**

**"There were witnesses who saw Pettigrew die," he said. "A whole street full of them..."**

**"They didn't see what they thought they saw!" said Black savagely, still watching Scabbers struggling in Ron's hands.**

**"Everyone thought Sirius killed Peter," said Lupin, nodding. "I believed it myself - until I saw the map tonight. Because the Marauder's map never lies. . . Peter's alive. Ron's holding him, Harry. "**

**Harry looked down at Ron, and as their eyes met, they agreed, silently: Black and Lupin were both out of their minds. Their story made no sense whatsoever. How could Scabbers be Peter Pettigrew? Azkaban must have unhinged Black after all - but why was Lupin playing along with him?**

**Then Hermione spoke, in a trembling, would-be calm sort of voice, as though trying to will Professor Lupin to talk sensibly.**

**"But Professor Lupin. . . Scabbers can't be Pettigrew. . . it just can't be true, you know it can't. . . "**

**"Why can't it be true?" Lupin said calmly, as though they were in class, and Hermione had simply spotted a problem in an experiment with Grindylows.**

**"Because...because people would know if Peter Pettigrew had been an Animagus. We did Animagi in class with Professor McGonagall. And I looked them up when I did my homework - the Ministry of Magic keeps tabs on witches and wizards who can become animals; there's a register showing what animal they become, and their markings and things... and I went and looked Professor McGonagall up on the register, and there have been only seven Animagi this century, and Pettigrew's name wasn't on the list."**

Lyra snorted, trust Granger to always have blind faith in authority. **Harry had barely had time to marvel inwardly at the effort Hermione put into her homework when Lupin started to laugh.**

**"Right again, Hermione!" he said. "But the Ministry never knew that here used to be three unregistered Animagi running around Hogwarts. "**

**"If you're going to tell them the story, get a move on, Remus," said Black, who was still watching Scabbers's every desperate move. "I've waited twelve years, I'm not going to wait much longer. "**

**"All right... but you'll need to help me, Sirius," said Lupin, "I only know how it began..."**

**Lupin broke off. There had been a loud creak behind him. The bedroom door had opened of its own accord. All five of them stared at it. Then Lupin strode toward it and looked out into the landing.**

**"No one there..."**

**"This place is haunted!" said Ron.**

**"It's not," said Lupin, still looking at the door in a puzzled way. "The Shrieking Shack was never haunted... The screams and howls the villagers used to hear were made by me. "**

**He pushed his graying hair out of his eyes, thought for a moment then said, "That's where all of this starts - with my becoming a werewolf, None of this could have happened if I hadn't been bitten... and if I hadn't been so foolhardy..."**

**He looked sober and tired. Ron started to interrupt, but Hermione, said, "Shh!" She was watching Lupin very intently.**

**"I was a very small boy when I received the bite. My parents tried everything, but in those days there was no cure. The potion that Professor Snape has been making for me is a very recent discovery. It makes me safe, you see. As long as I take it in the week, preceding the full moon, I keep my mind when I transform... I'm able to curl up in my office, a harmless wolf, and wait for the moon to wane again.**

**"Before the Wolfsbane Potion was discovered, however, I became a fully fledged monster once a month. It seemed impossible that I would be able to come to Hogwarts. Other parents weren't likely to want their children exposed to me.**

**"But then Dumbledore became Headmaster, and he was sympathetic. He said that as long as we took certain precautions, there was no reason I shouldn't come to school. . . . " Lupin sighed and looked directly at Harry. "I told you, months ago, that the Whomping Willow was planted the year I came to Hogwarts. The truth is that it was planted because I came to Hogwarts. This house" - Lupin looked miserably around the room, - "the tunnel that leads to it - they were built for my use. Once a month, I was smuggled out of the castle, into this place, to transform. The tree was placed at the tunnel mouth to stop anyone coming across me while I was dangerous."**

**Harry couldn't see where this story was going, but he was listening raptly all the same. The only sound apart from Lupin's voice was Scabbers's frightened squeaking.**

**"My transformations in those days were - were terrible. It is very painful to turn into a werewolf. I was separated from humans to bite, so I bit and scratched myself instead. The villagers heard the noise and the screaming and thought they were hearing particularly violent spirits. Dumbledore encouraged the rumor... Even now, when the house has been silent for years, the villagers don't dare approach it..."**

**"But apart from my transformations, I was happier than I had ever been in my life. For the first time ever, I had friends, three great friends. Sirius Black... Peter Pettigrew... and, of course, your father, Harry - James Potter. "**

**"Now, my three friends could hardly fail to notice that I disappeared once a month. I made up all sorts of stories. I told them my mother was ill, and that I had to go home to see her... I was terrified they would desert me the moment they found out what I was. But of course, they, like you, Hermione, worked out the truth... "**

**"And they didn't desert me at all. Instead, they did something for me that would make my transformations not only bearable but the best times of my life. They became Animagi. "**

**"My dad too?" said Harry, astounded.**

**"Yes, indeed," said Lupin. "It took them the best part of three years to work out how to do it. Your father and Sirius here were the cleverest students in the school, and lucky they were because the Animagus transformation can go horribly wrong - one reason the Ministry keeps a close watch on those attempting to do it. Peter needed all the help he could get from James and Sirius. Finally, in our fifth year, they managed it. They could each turn into a different animal at will. "**

**"But how did that help you?" said Hermione, sounding puzzled.**

**"They couldn't keep me company as humans, so they kept me company as animals," said Lupin. "A werewolf is only a danger to people. They sneaked out of the castle every month under James's Invisibility Cloak. They transformed... Peter, as the smallest, could slip beneath the Willow's attacking branches and touch the knot that freezes it. They would then slip down the tunnel and join me. Under their influence, I became less dangerous. My body was still wolfish, but my mind seemed to become less so while I was with them. "**

**"Hurry up, Remus," snarled Black, who was still watching Scabbers with a horrible sort of hung on his face.**

**"I'm getting there, Sirius, I'm getting there... well, highly exciting possibilities were open to us now that we could all transform. Soon we were leaving the Shrieking Shack and roaming the school grounds and the village by night. Sirius and James transformed into such large animals, they were able to keep a werewolf in check. I doubt whether any Hogwarts students ever found out more about the Hogwarts grounds and Hogsmeade than we did... And that's how we came to write the Marauder's Map, and sign it with our nicknames. Sirius is Padfoot. Peter is Wormtail. James was Prongs. "**

**"What sort of animal -?" Harry began, but Hermione cut him off. "That was still really dangerous! Running around in the dark with a werewolf! What if you'd given the others the slip, and bitten somebody?" Lyra was thinking the same thing.**

**"A thought that still haunts me," said Lupin heavily. "And there were near misses, many of them. We laughed about them afterward. We were young, thoughtless - carried away with our own cleverness. "**

**"I sometimes felt guilty about betraying Dumbledore's trust, of course... he had admitted me to Hogwarts when no other headmaster would have done so, and he had no idea I was breaking the rules he had set down for my own and others' safety. He never knew I had led three fellow students into becoming Animagi illegally. But I always managed to forget my guilty feelings every time we sat down to plan our next month's adventure. And I haven't changed... "**

**Lupin's face had hardened, and there was self-disgust in his voice. "All this year my mental self has been battling with myself, wondering whether I should tell Dumbledore that Sirius was an Animagus. But I didn't do it. Why? Because I was too cowardly. It would have meant admitting that I'd betrayed his trust while I was at school, admitting that I'd led others along with me... and Dumbledore's trust has meant everything to me. He let me into Hogwarts as a boy, and he gave me a job when I have been shunned all my adult life, unable to find paid work because of what I am. And so I convinced myself that Sirius was getting into the school using dark arts he learned from Voldemort, that being an Animagus had nothing to do with it... So, in a way, Snape's been right about me all along. "**

**"Snape?" said Black harshly, taking his eyes off Scabbers; for the first time in** **minutes and looking up at Lupin. "What's Snape got to do with it?"**

**"He's here, Sirius," said Lupin heavily. "He's teaching here as well. " He looked up at Harry, Ron, and Hermione.**

**"Professor Snape was at school with us. He fought very hard against my appointment to the Defense Against the Dark Arts job. He has been telling Dumbledore all year that I am not to be trusted. He has his reasons... you see, Sirius here played a trick on him which nearly killed him, a trick which involved me -"**

**Black made a derisive noise.**

**"It served him right," he sneered. "Sneaking around, trying to find out what we were up to... hoping he could get us expelled... "**

**"Snape was in school around the same time as us and was very interested in where I went every month. " Lupin told Harry, Ron, and Hermione. "We were in the same year, you know, and we - er - didn't like each other very much. He especially disliked James. Jealous, I think, of James's talent on the Quidditch field... anyway, Snape had seen me crossing the grounds with Madam Pomfrey one evening as she led me toward the Whomping Willow to transform. Sirius thought it would be - er - amusing, to tell Snape all he having to do was prod the knot on the tree trunk with a long stick, and he'd be able to get in after me. Well, of course, Snape tried it - if he'd got as far as this house, he'd have met a fully grown werewolf - but your father, who'd heard what Sirius had done, went after Snape and pulled him back, at great risk to his life... Snape glimpsed me, though, at the end of the tunnel. He was forbidden by Dumbledore to tell anybody, but from that time on he knew what I was... "**

**"So that's why Snape doesn't like you," said Harry slowly, "because he thought you were in on the joke?"**

**"That's right," sneered a cold voice from the wall behind Lupin.**

**Severus Snape was pulling off the Invisibility Cloak, his wand pointing directly at Lupin.**

**Hermione screamed. Black leaped to his feet. Harry felt as though he'd received a huge electric shock. But Lyra stepped between him and Harry. "I found this at the base of the Whomping Willow," said Snape, throwing the cloak aside, careful to keep this wand pointing directly at Lupin's chest. "Very useful, Potter, I thank you..."**

**Snape was slightly breathless, but his face was full of suppressed triumph. "You're wondering, perhaps, how I knew you were here?" he said, his eyes glittering. "I've just been to your office, Lupin. You forgot to take your potion tonight, so I took a gobletful along. And very lucky I did... lucky for me, I mean. Lying on your desk was a certain map. One glance at it told me all I needed to know. I saw you running along this passageway and out of sight. "**

**"Severus -" Lupin began, but Snape overrode him.**

**"I've told the headmaster again and again that you're helping your old friend Black into the castle, Lupin, and here's the proof. Not even I dreamed you would have the nerve to use this old place as your hideout -"**

**"Severus, you're making a mistake," said Lupin urgently. "You haven't heard everything - I can explain - Sirius is not here to kill Harry -"**

**"Two more for Azkaban tonight," said Snape, his eyes now gleaming fanatically. "I shall be interested to see how Dumbledore takes this... He was quite convinced you were harmless, you know, Lupin... a tame werewolf -"**

**"You fool," said Lupin softly. "Is a schoolboy grudge worth putting an innocent man back inside Azkaban?"**

**BANG! Thin, snakelike cords burst from the end of Snape's wand and twisted themselves around Lupin's mouth, wrists, and ankles; he overbalanced and fell to the floor, unable to move. With a roar of rage, Black started toward Snape, but Snape pointed his wand straight between Black's eyes.**

**"Give me a reason," he whispered. "Give me a reason to do it, and I swear I will. "**

**Black stopped dead. It would have been impossible to say which face showed more hatred.**

**Harry stood there, paralyzed, not knowing what to do or whom to believe. He glanced around at Ron and Hermione. Ron looked just as confused as he did, still fighting to keep a hold on the struggling Scabbers. Hermione, however, took an uncertain step toward Snape and said, in a very breathless voice, "Professor Snape - was wouldn't hurt to hear what they've got to say, w-would it?"**

**"Miss Granger, you are already facing suspension from this school," Snape spat. "You, Potter, and Weasley are out-of-bounds, in the company of a convicted murderer and a werewolf. For once in your life, hold your tongue. "**

**"But if-if there was a mistake -"**

**"KEEP QUIET, YOU STUPID GIRL!" Snape shouted, looking suddenly quite deranged. "DON'T TALK ABOUT WHAT YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND!" A few sparks shot out of the end of his wand, which was still pointed at Black's face. Hermione fell silent.**

**"Vengeance is very sweet," Snape breathed at Black. "How I hoped I would be the one to catch you... "**

**"The joke's on you again, Severus," Black snarled. "As long as this boy brings his rat up to the castle" - he jerked his head at Ron - "I'll come quietly... "**

**"Up to the castle?" said Snape silkily. "I don't think we need to go that far. All I have to do is call the Dementors once we get out of the Willow. They'll be very pleased to see you, Black... pleased enough to give you a little kiss, I daresay... I -"**

**What little color there was in Black's face left it.**

**"You-you've got to hear me out," he croaked. "The rat - look at the rat -"**

**But there was a mad glint in Snape's eyes that Harry had never seen before. He seemed beyond reason.**

**"Come on, all of you," he said. He clicked his fingers, and the ends of the cords that bound Lupin flew to his hands. "I'll drag the werewolf. Perhaps the Dementors will have a kiss for him too -"**

**Before he knew what he was doing, Harry had crossed the room in three strides and blocked the door.**

**"Get out of the way, Potter, you're in enough trouble already," snarled Snape. "If I hadn't been here to save your skin -"**

**"Professor Lupin could have killed me about a hundred times this year," Harry said. "I've been alone with him loads of times, having defense lessons against the Dementors. If he was helping Black, why didn't he just finish me off then?"**

**"Don't ask me to fathom the way a werewolf's mind works," hissed Snape. "Get out of the way, Potter. "**

**"YOU'RE PATHETIC!" Harry yelled. "JUST BECAUSE THEY MADE A FOOL OF YOU AT SCHOOL YOU WON'T EVEN LISTEN -"**

**"SILENCE! I WILL NOT BE SPOKEN TO LIKE THAT!" Snape shrieked, looking madder than ever. "Like father, like son, Potter! I have just saved your neck; you should be thanking me on bended knee! You would have been well served if he'd killed you! You'd have died like your father, too arrogant to believe you might be mistaken in Black - now get out of the way, or I will make you. GET OUT O THE WAY, POTTER!"**

**Harry made up his mind in a split second. Before Snape could take even one step toward him, he had raised his wand.**

**"Expelliarmus!" he yelled - except that he wasn't the only voice that shouted. There was a blast that made the door rattle on its hinges; Snap was lifted off his feet and slammed into the wall, then slid down it to the floor, a trickle of blood oozing from under his hair. He had been knocked out.**

**Harry looked around**. Lyra, Ron, and Hermione had tried to disarm Snape at exactly the same moment. **Snape's wand soared in a high arc and landed on the bed next to Crookshanks.**

**"You shouldn't have done that," said Black, looking at Harry.**

**"You should have left him to me... "**

**Harry avoided Black's eyes. He wasn't sure, even now, that he'd done the right thing.**

**"We attacked a teacher... We attacked a teacher... " Hermione whimpered, staring at the lifeless Snape with frightened eyes. "Oh, we're going to be in so much trouble -" **Lyra rolled her eyes at Granger.

**Lupin was struggling against his bonds. Black bent down quickly and untied him. Lupin straightened up, rubbing his arms where the ropes had cut into them.**

**"Thank you, Harry," he said.**

**"I'm still not saying I believe you," he told Lupin.**

**"Then it's time we offered you some proof," said Lupin. "You, boy - give me Peter, please. Now. "**

**Ron clutched Scabbers closer to his chest.**

**"Come off it," he said weakly. "Are you trying to say he broke out of Azkaban just to get his hands on Scabbers? I mean. . . " He looked up at Harry and Hermione for support, "Okay, say Pettigrew could turn into a rat - there are millions of rats - how's he supposed to know which one he is after if he was locked up in Azkaban?"**

**"You know, Sirius, that's a fair question," said Lupin, turning to Black and frowning slightly. "How did you find out where he was?"**

**Black put one of his claw-like hands inside his robes and took out a crumpled piece of paper, which he smoothed flat and held out to show the others.**

**It was the photograph of Ron and his family that had appeared in the Daily Prophet the previous summer, and there, on Ron's shoulder, was Scabbers.**

**"How did you get this?" Lupin asked Black, thunderstruck.**

**"Fudge, when he came to inspect Azkaban last year, he gave me his paper. And there was Peter, on the front page on this boy's shoulder... I knew him at once... how many times had I seen him transform? And the caption said the boy would be going back to Hogwarts... to where Harry was..."**

**"My God," said Lupin softly, staring from Scabbers to the picture in the paper and back again. "His front paw..."**

**"What about it?" said Ron defiantly.**

**"He's got a toe missing," said Black.**

**"Of course," Lupin breathed. "So simple... so brilliant... he cut it off himself?"**

**"Just before he transformed," said Black. "When I cornered him, he yelled for the whole street to hear that I'd betrayed Lily and James. Then, before I could curse him, he blew apart the street with the wand behind his back, killed everyone within twenty feet of himself - and sped down into the sewer with the other rats..."**

**"Didn't you ever hear, Ron?" said Lupin. "The biggest bit of Peter they found was his finger. "**

**"Look, Scabbers probably had a fight with another rat or something! He's been in my family for ages, right -"**

**"Twelve years, in fact," said Lupin. "Didn't you ever wonder why he was living so long?"**

**"We - we've been taking good care of him!" said Ron.**

**"Not looking too good at the moment, though, is he?" said Lupin. "I'd guess he's been losing weight ever since he heard Sirius was on the loose again..."**

**"He's been scared of that mad cat!" said Ron, nodding toward Crookshanks, who was still purring on the bed.**

**But that wasn't right, Harry thought suddenly... Scabbers had been looking ill before he met Crookshanks... ever since Ron's return from Egypt... since the time when Black had escaped...**

**"This cat isn't mad," said Black hoarsely. He reached out a bony hand and stroked Crookshanks's fluffy head. "He's the most intelligent of his kind I've ever met. He recognized Peter for what he was right away. And when he met me, he knew I was no dog. It was a while before he trusted me... Finally, I managed to communicate to him what I was after, and he's been helping me..."**

**"What do you mean?" breathed Hermione.**

**"He tried to bring Peter to me, but couldn't... so he stole the passwords into Gryffindor Tower for me... As I understand it, he took them from a boy's bedside table..."**

**Harry's brain seemed to, be sagging under the weight of what he was hearing. It was absurd... and yet...**

**"But Peter got wind of what was going on and ran for it. " croaked Black. "This cat - Crookshanks, did you call him? - told me Peter had left blood on the sheets... I supposed he bit himself... Well, faking his own death had worked once."**

**These words jolted Harry to his senses.**

**"And why did he fake his death?" he said furiously. "Because he knew you were about to kill him like you killed my parents!"**

**"No," said Lupin, "Harry-"**

**"And now you've come to finish him off!"**

**"Yes, I have," said Black, with an evil look at Scabbers.**

**"Then I should've let Snape take you!" Harry shouted.**

**"Harry," said Lupin hurriedly, "don't you see? All this time we've thought Sirius betrayed your parents, and Peter tracked him down - but it was the other way around, don't you see? Peter betrayed your mother and father - Sirius tracked Peter down -"**

**"THAT'S NOT TRUE!" Harry ye leaped "HE WAS THEIR SECRET-KEEPER! HE SAID SO BEFORE YOU TURNED UP. HE SAID HE KILLED THEM!"**

**He was pointing at Black, who shook his head slowly; the sunken eyes were suddenly over bright.**

**"Harry... I as good as killed them," he croaked. "I persuaded Lily and James to change to Peter at the last moment, persuaded them to use him as Secret-Keeper instead of me... I'm to blame, I know it... The night they died, I'd arranged to check on Peter, make sure he was still safe, but when I arrived at his hiding place, he'd gone. Yet there was no sign of a struggle. It didn't feel right. I was scared. I set out for your parents' house straight away. And when I saw their house, destroyed, and their bodies... I realized what Peter must've done... what I'd done..."**

**His voice broke. He turned away.**

**"Enough of this," said Lupin, and there was a steely note in his voice Harry had never heard before. "There's one certain way to prove what really happened. Ron, give me that rat. "**

**"What are you going to do with him if I give him to you?" Ron asked Lupin tensely.**

**"Force him to show himself," said Lupin. "If he really is a rat, it won't hurt him. "**

**Ron hesitated. Then at long last, he held out Scabbers and Lupin took him. Scabbers began to squeak without stopping, twisting and turning, his tiny black eyes bulging in his head. "Ready, Sirius?" said Lupin.**

**Black had already retrieved Snape's wand from the bed. He approached Lupin and the struggling rat, and his wet eyes suddenly seemed to be burning in his face.**

**"Together?" he said quietly.**

**"I think so", said Lupin, holding Scabbers tightly in one hand and his wand in the other. "On the count of three. One - two - THREE!"**

**A flash of blue-white light erupted from both wands; for a moment, Scabbers was frozen in midair, his small gray form twisting madly - Ron yelled - the rate fell and hit the floor. There was another blinding flash of light and then -**

**It was like watching a speeded-up film of a growing tree. Ahead was shooting upward from the ground; limbs were sprouting; a moment later, a man was standing where Scabbers had been, cringing and wringing his hands. Crookshanks was spitting and snarling on the bed; the hair on his back was standing up.**

**He was a very short man, hardly taller than Harry and Hermione. His thin, colorless hair was unkempt and there was a large bald patch on top. He had the shrunken appearance of a plump man who has lost a lot of weight in a short time. His skin looked grubby, almost like Scabbers's fur, and something of this-fingered around his pointed nose and his very small, watery eyes. He looked around at them all, his breathing fast and shallow. Harry saw his eyes dart to the door and back again.**

**"Well, hello, Peter," said Lupin pleasantly, as though rats frequently erupted into old school friends around him. "Long time, no see. "**

**"S-Sirius. . . R-Remus. . . " Even Pettigrew's voice was squeaky. Again, his eyes darted toward the door. "My friends. . . my old friends. . . "**

**Black's wand arm rose, but Lupin seized him around the wrist, gave him a warning took, then turned again to Pettigrew, his voice light and casual.**

**"We've been having a little chat, Peter, about what happened the night Lily and James died. You might have missed the finer points while you were squeaking around down there on the bed -"**

**"Remus," gasped Pettigrew, and Harry could see beads of sweat breaking out over his pasty face, "you don't believe him, do you. . . ? He tried to kill me, Remus. . . . "**

**"So we've heard," said Lupin, more coldly. "I'd like to clear up one or two little matters with you, Peter, if you'll be so -"**

**"He's come to try and kill me again!" Pettigrew squeaked suddenly, pointing at Black, and Harry saw that he used his middle finger, because his index was missing. "He killed Lily and James and now he's going to kill me too. . . You've got to help me, Remus. . . . "**

**Black's face looked more skull-like than ever as he stared at Pettigrew with his fathomless eyes.**

**"No one's going to try and kill you until we've sorted a few things out," said Lupin.**

**"Sorted things out?" squealed Pettigrew, looking wildly about him once more, eyes taking in the boarded windows and, again, the only door. "I knew he'd come after me! I knew he'd be back for me! I've been waiting for this for twelve years!"**

**"You knew Sirius was going to break out of Azkaban?" said Lupin, his brow furrowed. "When nobody has ever done it before?"**

**"He's got dark powers the rest of us can only dream of!" Pettigrew shouted shrilly. "How else did he get out of there? I suppose He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named taught him a few tricks!"**

**Black started to laugh, a horrible, mirthless laugh that filled the whole room.**

**"Voldemort, teach me tricks?" he said.**

**Pettigrew flinched as though Black had brandished a whip at him.**

**"What, scared to hear your old master's name?" said Black. "I don't blame you, Peter. His lot aren't very happy with you, are they?"**

**"Don't know what you mean, Sirius -" muttered Pettigrew, his breathing faster than ever. His whole face was shining with sweat now.**

**"You haven't been hiding from me for twelve years," said Black. "You've been hiding from Voldemort's old supporters. I heard things in Azkaban, Peter. . . They all think you're dead, or you'd have to answer to them. . . I've heard them screaming all sorts of things in their sleep. Sounds like they think the double-crosser double-crossed them. Voldemort went to the Potters' on your information. . . and Voldemort met his downfall there. And not all Voldemort's supporters ended up in Azkaban, did they? There are still plenty out there, biding their time, pretending they've seen the error of their ways. If they ever got wind that you were still alive, Peter -"**

**"Don't know. . . what you're talking about. . . " said Pettigrew again, more shrilly than ever. He wiped his face on his sleeve and looked up at Lupin. "You don't believe this - this madness, Remus -"**

**"I must admit, Peter, I have difficulty in understanding why an innocent man would want to spend twelve years as a rat," said Lupin evenly.**

**"Innocent, but scared!" squealed Pettigrew. "If Voldemort's supporters were after me, it was because I put one of their best men in Azkaban - the spy, Sirius Black!"**

**Black's face contorted.**

**"How dare you," he growled, sounding suddenly like the bear-sized dog he had been. "I, a spy for Voldemort? **That bastard killed my wife, my family. **When did I ever sneak around people who were stronger and more powerful than myself? But you, Peter - I'll never understand why I didn't see you were the spy from the start. You always liked big friends who'd look after you, didn't you? It used to be us. . . me and Remus. . . and James. . . "**

**Pettigrew wiped his face again; he was almost panting for breath.**

**"Me, a spy. . . must be out of your mind. . . never. . . don't know how you can say such a -"**

**"Lily and James only made you Secret-Keeper because I suggested it," Black hissed, so venomously that Pettigrew took a step backward. "I thought it was the perfect plan. . . a bluff. . . Voldemort would be sure to come after me, would never dream they'd use a weak, talentless thing like you. . . It must have been the finest moment of your miserable life, telling Voldemort you could hand him the Potters. "**

**Pettigrew was muttering distractedly; Harry caught words like "far-fetched" and "lunacy," but he couldn't help paying more attention to the ashen color of Pettigrew's face and the way his eyes continued to dart toward the windows and door.**

**"Professor Lupin?" said Hermione timidly. "Can-can I say something?"**

**"Certainly, Hermione," said Lupin courteously.**

**"Well - Scabbers - I mean, this-this man - he's been sleeping in Harry's dormitory for three years. If he's working for You-Know-Who, how come he never tried to hurt Harry before now?"**

**"There!" said Pettigrew shrilly, pointing at Ron with his maimed hand. "Thank you! You see, Remus? I have never hurt a hair of Harry's head! Why should I?"**

**"I'll tell you why," said Black. "Because you never did anything for anyone unless you could see what was in it for you. Voldemort's been in hiding for fifteen years, they say he's half dead. You weren't about to commit murder right under Albus Dumbledore's nose, for a wreck of a wizard who'd lost all of his power, were you? You'd want to be quite sure he was the biggest bully in the playground before you went back to him, wouldn't you? Why else did you find a wizard family to take you in? Keeping an ear out for news, weren't you, Peter? Just in case your old protector regained strength, and it was safe to rejoin him. . . . "**

**Pettigrew opened his mouth and closed it several times. He seemed to have lost the ability to talk.**

**"Er - Mr. Black - Sirius?" said Hermione.**

**Black jumped at being addressed like this and stared at Hermione as though he had never seen anything quite like her.**

**"If you don't mind me asking, how-how did you get out of Azkaban if you didn't use Dark Magic?"**

**"Thank you!" gasped Pettigrew, nodding frantically at her. "Exactly! Precisely what I -"**

**But Lupin silenced him with a look. Black was frowning slightly at Hermione, but not as though he were annoyed with her. He seemed to be pondering his answer.**

**"I don't know how I did it," he said slowly. "I think the only reason I never lost my mind is that I knew I was innocent. That wasn't a happy thought, so the Dementors couldn't suck it out of me. . . but it kept me sane and knowing who I am. . . helped me keep my powers. . . so when it all became. . . too much. . . I could transform in my cell. . . become a dog. Dementors can't see, you know. . . " He swallowed. "They feel their way toward people by feeding off their emotions. . . They could tell that my feelings were less - less human, less complex when I was a dog. . . but they thought, of course, that I was losing my mind like everyone else in there, so it didn't trouble them. But I was weak, very weak, and I had no hope of driving them away from me without a wand. . . . "**

**"But then I saw Peter in that picture. . . I realized he was at Hogwarts with Harry. . . perfectly positioned to act, if one hint reached his ears that the Dark Side was gathering strength again. . . "**

**Pettigrew was shaking his head, mouthing noiselessly, but staring all the while at Black as though hypnotized.**

**". . . ready to strike at the moment he could be sure of allies. . . and to deliver the last Potter to them. if he gave them Harry, who'd dare say he'd betrayed Lord Voldemort? He'd be welcomed back with honors. . . . "**

**"So you see, I had to do something. I was the only one who knew Peter was still alive. . . "**

**Harry remembered what Mr. Weasley had told Mrs. Wealsey. "The guards say he's been talking in his sleep.. always the same words. . . 'He's at Hogwarts. ''**

**"It was as if someone had lit a fire In my head, and the Dementors couldn't destroy it. . . It wasn't a happy feeling. . . it was an obsession. . . but it gave me strength, it cleared my mind. So, one night when they opened my door to bring food, I slipped past them like a dog. . . It's so much harder for them to sense animal emotions that they were confused. . . I was thin, very thin. . . thin enough to slip through the bars. . . I swam as a dog back to the mainland . . . I journeyed north and slipped into the Hogwarts grounds as a dog. I've been living in the forest ever since, except when I came to watch the Quidditch, of course. You fly as well as your father did, Harry. . . . "**

**He looked at Harry, who did not look away.** Lyra swallowed wondering how skinny he must have been to slip through the bars.

**"Believe me," croaked Black. "Believe me, Harry. I never betrayed James and Lily. I would have died before I betrayed them. "**

**And at long last, Harry believed him. Throat too tight to speak, he nodded. **

Tears streamed down Lyra's face, _her father was innocent. _

**"No!"**

**Pettigrew had fallen to his knees as though Harry's nod had been his own death sentence. He shuffled forward on his knees, groveling, his hands clasped in front of him as though praying.**

**"Sirius - it's me. . . it's Peter. . . your friend. . . you wouldn't -"**

**Black kicked out and Pettigrew recoiled.**

**"There's enough filth on my robes without you touching them," said Black.**

**"Remus!" Pettigrew squeaked, turning to Lupin instead, writhing imploringly abiraterone of him. "You don't believe this - wouldn't Sirius have told you they'd changed the plan?"**

**"Not if he thought I was the spy, Peter," said Lupin. "I assume that's why you didn't tell me, Sirius?" he said casually over Pettigrew's head.**

**"Forgive me, Remus," said Black.**

**"Not at all, Padfoot, old friend," said Lupin, who was now rolling up his sleeves. "And will you, in turn, forgive me for believing you were the spy?"**

**"Of course," said Black, and the ghost of a grin flitted across his gaunt face. He, too, began rolling up his sleeves. "Shall we kill him together?"**

**"Yes, I think so," said Lupin grimly.**

**"You wouldn't. . . you won't. . . " gasped Pettigrew. And he scrambled around to Ron.**

**"Ron. . . haven't I been a good friend. . . a good pet? You won't let them kill me, Ron, will you. . . you're on my side, aren't you?"**

**But Ron was staring at Pettigrew with the utmost revulsion.**

**"I let you sleep in my bed!" he said.**

**"Kind boy. . . kind master. . . " Pettigrew crawled toward Ron "You won't let them do it. . . I was your rat. . . I was a good pet. . . . "**

**"If you made a better rat than a human, it's not much to boast about, Peter," said Black harshly. Ron, going still paler with pain, wrenched his broken leg out of Pettigrew's reach. Pettigrew turned on his knees, staggered forward, and seized the hem of Hermione's robes.**

**"Sweet girl. . . clever girl. . . you-you won't let them. . . Help me. . . . "**

**Hermione pulled her robes out of Pettigrew's clutching hands and backed away against the wall, looking horrified.**

**Pettigrew knelt, trembling uncontrollably, and turned his head slowly toward Harry.**

**"Harry. . . Harry. . . you look just like your father. . . just like him. . . "**

**"HOW DARE YOU SPEAK TO HARRY?" roared Black. "HOW DARE YOU FACE HIM? HOW DARE YOU TALK ABOUT JAMES IN FRONT OF HIM?"**

**"Harry," whispered Pettigrew, shuffling toward him, hands outstretched. "Harry, James wouldn't have wanted me killed. . . James would have understood, Harry. . . he would have shown me mercy. . . "**

**Both Black and Lupin strode forward, seized Pettigrew's shoulders, and threw him backward onto the floor. He sat there, twitching with terror, staring up at them.**

**"You sold Lily and James to Voldemort," said Black, who was shaking too. "Do you deny it?"**

**Pettigrew burst into tears. It was horrible to watch, like an oversized, balding baby, cowering on the floor.**

**"Sirius, Sirius, what could I have done? The Dark Lord. . . you have no idea. . . he has weapons you can't imagine . . . I was scared, Sirius, I was never brave like you and Remus and James. I never meant it to happen. . . He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named forced me -"**

**"DON'T LIE!" bellowed Black. "YOU'D BEEN PASSING INFORMATION TO HIM FOR A YEAR BEFORE LILY AND JAMES DIED! YOU WERE HIS SPY!"**

**"He...he was taking over everywhere!" gasped Pettigrew. "Wh-what was there to be gained by refusing him?"**

**"What was there to be gained by fighting the evilest wizard who has ever existed?" said Black, with a terrible fury in his face. "Only innocent lives, Peter!"**

**"You don't understand!" whined Pettigrew. "He would have killed me, Sirius!"**

**"THEN YOU SHOULD HAVE DIED!" roared Black. "DIED RATHER THAN BETRAY YOUR FRIENDS, AS WE WOULD HAVE DONE FOR YOU!"**

**Black and Lupin stood shoulder to shoulder, wands raised.**

**"You should have realized," said Lupin quietly, "if Voldemort didn't kill you, we would. Good-bye, Peter. "**

**Hermione covered her face with her hands and turned to the wall.**

**"NO!" Harry yelled. He ran forward, placing himself in front Pettigrew, facing the wands. "You can't kill him," he said breathlessly. "You can't. "**

**Black and Lupin both looked staggered.**

**"Harry, this piece of vermin is the reason you have no parents," Black snarled. "This cringing bit of filth where have seen you die too, without turning a hair. You heard him. His own stinking skin meant more to him than your whole family. "**

**"I know," Harry panted. "We'll take him up to the castle. We'll hand him over to the Dementors. . . He can go to Azkaban. . . but don't kill him. "**

**"Harry!" gasped Pettigrew, and he flung his arms around Harry's knees. "You - thank you - it's more than I deserve - thank you -"**

**"Get off me," Harry spat, throwing Pettigrew's hands off him in disgust. "I'm not doing this for you. I'm doing it because - I don't reckon my dad would've wanted them to become killers - just for you."** _And Lyra would want her dad free, _thought Harry

**No one moved or made a sound except Pettigrew, whose breath was coming in bear-sized he clutched his clear Black and Lupin were looking at each other. Then, with one movement, they lowered their wands.**

**"You're the only person who has the right to decide, Harry," said Black. "But think. . . think what he did. . . . "**

**"He can go to Azkaban," Harry repeated. "If anyone deserves that place, he does. . . . "**

**Pettigrew was still wheezing behind him.**

**"Very well," said Lupin. "Stand aside, Harry."**

**Harry hesitated.**

**"I'm going to tie him up," said Lupin. "That's all, I swear. "**

**Harry stepped out of the way. Thin cords shot from Lupin's wand this time, and next moment, Pettigrew was wriggling on the floor, bound and gagged.**

**"But if you transform, Peter," growled Black, his own wand pointing at Pettigrew too, "we will kill you. You agree, Harry?"**

**Harry looked down at the pitiful figure on the floor and nodded so that Pettigrew could see him.**

**"Right," said Lupin, suddenly businesslike. "Ron, I can't mend bones nearly as well as Madam Pomfrey, so I think it's best if we just strap your leg up until we can get you to the hospital wing. "**

**He hurried over to Ron, bent down, tapped Ron's leg with his wand, and muttered, "Ferula. " Bandages spun up Ron's leg, Ron put his weight gingerly on the leg.**

**"That's better," he said. "Thanks. "**

**"What about Professor Snape?" said Hermione in a small voice, looking down at Snape's prone figure.**

**"There's nothing seriously wrong with him," said Lupin, bending over Snape and checking his pulse. "You were just a little - overenthusiastic. Still out cold. Er - perhaps it will be best if we don't revive him until we're a safety back in the castle. We can take him like this. . . . "**

**He muttered, "Mobilicorpus. " As though invisible strings were tied to Snape's wrists, neck, and knees, he was pulled into a standing position, head still lolling unpleasantly, like a grotesque puppet. He hung a few inches above the ground, his limp feet dangling. Lupin picked up the Invisibility Cloak and tucked it safely into his pocket.**

**"And two of us should be chained to this," said Black, nudging Pettigrew with his toe. "Just to make sure. "**

**"I'll do it," said Lupin.**

**"And me," said Ron savagely, limping forward.**

**Black conjured heavy manacles from thin air; soon Pettigrew was upright again, left arm chained to Lupin's right, right arm to Ron's left. Ron's face was set. He seemed to have taken Scabbers's true identity as a personal insult. Crookshanks leaped lightly off the bed and led the how-hoof room, his bottlebrush tail held jauntily high.**

Lyra followed Harry and Sirius, still unable to believe that her dad would be free. That she could live with him...

**TO BE CONTINUED...**

**AN: This has been one long chapter. The next one will be just as long, if not longer.**

**Please review**


	4. Past: Part 3

**AN: This chapter is gonna be a lot AU. HOLD ON TIGHT...**

**Disclaimer: NOT mine...**

**I would like it if you could suggest animagus forms for Harry, Luna, and Tracy.**

Chapter 4: PAST: Part 3

**Harry had never been part of a stranger group. Crookshanks led the way down the stairs; Lupin, Pettigrew, and Ron went next, looking like entrants in a six-legged race.** Next came Hermione and then Professor Snape, drifting creepily along, his toes hitting each stair as they descended, held up by his own wand, which was being pointed at him by Sirius. Harry and unknown to all Lyra brought up the rear. **Getting back into the tunnel was difficult. Lupin, Pettigrew, and Ron had to turn sideways to manage it; Lupin still had Pettigrew covered with his wand. Harry could see them edging awkwardly along the tunnel in single file. Crookshanks was still in the lead. Harry went right after Black, who was still making Snape drift along ahead of them; he kept bumping his lolling head on the low ceiling. Harry had the impression Black was making no effort to prevent this.**

**"You know what this means?" Black said abruptly to Harry as they made their slow progress along the tunnel. "Turning Pettigrew in?"**

**"You're free," said Harry.**

**"Yes... " said Black. "But I'm also - I don't know if anyone ever told you - I'm your godfather. "**

**"Yeah, I knew that," said Harry.**

**"Well... your parents appointed me your guardian," said Black stiffly. "If anything happened to them..."**

**Harry waited. Did Black mean what he thought he meant?**

**"I'll understand, of course, if you want to stay with your aunt and uncle," said Black. "But. . . well. . . think about it. Once my name's cleared. . . if you wanted a. . . a different home. . . "**

**Some sort of explosion took place in the pit of Harry's stomach.**

**"What - live with you?" he said, accidentally cracking his head on a bit of rock protruding from the ceiling. "Leave the Dursleys?"**

**"Of course, I thought you wouldn't want to," said Black quickly. "I understand, I just thought I'd -"**

**"Are you insane?" said Harry, his voice easily as croaky as Black's. "Of course I want to leave the Dursleys! Have you got a house? When can I move in?"**

**Black turned right around to look at him; Snape's head was scraping the ceiling but Black didn't seem to care.**

**"You want to?" he said. "You mean it?"**

**"Yeah, I mean it!" said Harry.**

**Black's gaunt face broke into the first true smile Harry had seen upon it. The difference it made was startling, as though a person ten years younger were shining through the starved mask; for a moment, he was recognizable as the man who had laughed at Harry's parents' wedding.**

**They came out on the grounds**. **The grounds were very dark now; the only light came from the distant windows of the castle. Pettigrew was still wheezing and occasionally whimpering. Harry's mind was buzzing. He was going to leave the Dursleys. He was going to live with Sirius Black, his parents' best friend. . . . He felt dazed. . . . What would happen when he told the Dursleys he was going to live with the convict they'd seen on television. . . !**

Harry asked the question which had been plaguing both Lyra and him, "Why did Voldemort attack your wife?"

Sirius sighed, pain clear in his eyes, "My wife was a muggle-born witch. We married in secret. The only ones to know about it were the Marauders and Dumbledore. My family was blood purist, they would have killed my wife. We had a daughter, we told no one except your parents and Dumbledore," Lyra's breath caught in her throat, "But the Traitor sold my wife out to Voldemort. My wife and my daughter were visiting her parents and I was on duty when they were attacked. Three days before tha-that Halloween. Their house was on fire when I arrived, nothing could be saved." By its end, Sirius, as well as Lyra, were crying.

**And then -**

**A cloud shifted. There were suddenly dim shadows on the ground. Their party was bathed in moonlight.**

**Snape collided with Lupin, Pettigrew, and Ron, who had stopped abruptly. Black froze. He flung out one arm to make Harry and Hermione stopped.**

**Harry could see Lupin's silhouette. He had gone rigid. Then his limbs began to shake.**

**"Oh, my -" Hermione gasped. "He didn't take his potion tonight! He's not safe!"**

**"Run," Black whispered. "Run. Now. "**

**But Harry couldn't run. Ron was chained to Pettigrew and Lupin. He leaped forward but Black caught him around the chest and threw him back.**

**"Leave it to me - RUN!"**

**There was a terrible snarling noise. Lupin's head was lengthening. So was his body. His shoulders were hunching. Hair was sprouting visibly on his face and hands, which were curling into clawed paws. Crookshanks's hair was on end again; he was backing away -**

**As the werewolf reared, snapping its long jaws, Sirius disappeared from Harry's side. He had transformed. The enormous, bearlike dog bounded forward. As the werewolf wrenched itself free of the manacle binding it, the dog seized it about the neck and pulled it backward, away from Ron and Pettigrew. They were locked, jaw to jaw, claws ripping at each other.**

**Harry stood, transfixed by the sight, too intent upon the battle to notice anything else. **Lyra was too scared for her dad to even notice her surroundings. It was Hermione's scream that alerted them -

**Pettigrew had dived for Lupin's dropped wand. Ron, unsteady on his bandaged leg, fell. There was a bang, a burst of light - and Ron lay motionless on the ground. Another bang - Crookshanks flew into the air and back to the earth in a heap.**

**"Expelliarmus," Harry yelled, pointing his own wand at Pettigrew; Lupin's wand flew high into the air and out of sight. "Stay where you are!" Harry shouted, running forward. **Lyra tried to body bind him.

**Too late. Pettigrew had transformed. Harry saw his bald tail whip through the manacle on Ron's outstretched arm and heard a scurrying through the grass.**

**There were a howl and a rumbling growl; Harry turned to see the werewolf taking flight; it was galloping into the forest -**

**"Sirius, he's gone, Pettigrew transformed!" Harry yelled.**

**Black was bleeding; there were gashes across his muzzle and back, but at Harry's words he scrambled up again, and in an instant, the sound of his paws faded to silence as he pounded away across the grounds. **Lyra wanted to follow him but didn't want to live Harry. So after a moment's hesitation, she stayed.

**Harry and Hermione dashed over to Ron.**

**"What did he do to him?" Hermione whispered. Ron's eyes were only half-closed, his mouth hung open; he was definitely alive, they could hear him breathing, but he didn't seem to recognize them.**

**"I don't know. . . . "**

**Harry looked desperately around. Black and Lupin both gone. . . they had no one but Snape for the company, still hanging, unconscious, in midair.**

**"We'd better get them up to the castle and tell someone," said Harry, pushing his hair out of his eyes, trying to think straight. "Come -"**

**But then, from beyond the range of their vision, they heard a yelping, a whining: a dog in pain. . . .**

**"Sirius," Harry muttered, staring into the darkness.**

**He had a moment's indecision, but there was nothing they could do for Ron at the moment, and by the sound of it, Black was in trouble -**

Harry set off at a run, Lyra right behind him. They left Hermione to keep an eye on Ron. **The yelling seemed to be coming from the ground near the edge of the lake.** **They pelted toward it, and Harry, running flat out, felt the cold without realizing what it must mean -**

**The yelping stopped abruptly. As they reached the lakeshore, they saw why - Sirius had turned back into a man. He was crouched on all fours, his hands over his head.**

**"Nooo," he moaned. "Nooo. . . please. . . . "**

**And then Harry saw them. Dementors, at least a hundred of them, gliding in a black mass around the lake toward them. He spun around, the familiar, icy cold penetrating his insides, fog starting to obscure his vision; more were appearing out of the darkness on every side; they were encircling them. . . .**

Harry raised his wand, blinking furiously to try and clear his vision, shaking his head to rid it of the faint screaming that had started inside it -

I'm going to live with my godfather. I'm leaving the Dursleys.

He forced himself to think of Black, and only Black, and began to chant: "Expecto patronum! Expecto patronum!"

Black gave a shudder, rolled over, and lay motionless on the ground, pale as death.

He'll be all right. I'm going to go and live with him.

"Expecto patronum! Expecto patronum!"

"Expecto -" Lyra thought that her dad was innocent, they were going to live together, "Expecto patronum!" It formed a thin shield around them.

But she couldn't hold it. The Dementors were closing in, barely ten feet from them. They formed a solid wall around Harry and Lyra and were getting closer...

"EXPECTO PATRONUM!" Harry yelled, trying to blot the screaming from his ears. "EXPECTO PATRONUM!"

A thin wisp of silver escaped Harry's wand and hovered like mist before him.

But all of Lyra's past memories overwhelmed her and she collapsed on the ground. She tried to stop the dementors.

"Expecto - expecto patronum -"

**Harry felt his knees hit the cold grass. The fog was clouding his eyes. With a huge effort, he fought to remember - Sirius was innocent - innocent - We'll be okay - I'm going to live with him -**

**"Expecto patronum!" he gasped.**

**By the feeble light of his formless Patronus, he saw a Dementor halt, very close to him. It couldn't walk through the cloud of silver mist Harry had conjured. A dead, slimy hand slid out from under the cloak. It made a gesture as though to sweep the Patronus aside.**

**"No - no -" Harry gasped. "He's innocent. . . expecto expecto patronum -"**

**He could feet them watching him, hear their rattling breath like an evil wind around him. The nearest Dementor seemed to be considering him. Then it raised both its rotting hands - and lowered its hood.**

**Where there should have been eyes, there was only thin, gray scabbed skin, stretched blankly over empty sockets. But there was a mouth. . . a gaping, shapeless hole, sucking the air with the sound of a death rattle.**

**A paralyzing terror filled Harry so that he couldn't move or speak. His Patronus flickered and died.**

**The white fog was blinding him. He had to fight. . . expecto patronum. . . he couldn't see. . . and in the distance, he heard the familiar screaming. . . expecto patronum. . . he groped in the mist for Sirius, and found his arm. . . they weren't going to take him. . . .**

**But a pair of strong, clammy hands suddenly attached themselves around Harry's neck. They were forcing his face upward. . . He could feel its breath. . . It was going to get rid of him first. . . He could feel its putrid breath. . . His mother was screaming in his ears. . . She was going to be the last thing he ever heard -**

Lyra tried once again "Expecto patronum!" the thought of protecting Harry giving her strength, but nothing happened and then two dementors swooped at her. The memories of almost being raped flooded her mind and she whimpered. And then darkness claimed her.

And then, through the fog that was drowning them, Harry thought he saw a silvery light growing brighter and brighter. . . **Harry felt himself fall forward onto the grass. . . . Facedown, too weak to move, sick and shaking, Harry opened his eyes. The Dementor must have released him. The blinding light was illuminating the grass around him. . . The screaming had stopped, the cold was ebbing away. . .**

**Something was driving the Dementors back. . . It was circling around him and Black. . . . They were leaving. . . .**

**The air was warm again. . . .**

With every ounce of strength he could muster, Harry raised his head a few inches and saw two animals amid the light, galloping away across the lake. . . Eyes blurred with sweat, Harry tried to make out what they were. . . They were as bright as a unicorn. . . Fighting to stay conscious, Harry watched them canter to a halt as it reached the opposite shore. For a moment, Harry saw, by its brightness, somebody welcoming one back. . . raising his hand to pat it. . . someone who looked strangely familiar. . . but it couldn't be. . .

**Harry didn't understand. He couldn't think anymore. He felt the last of his strength leave him, and his head hit the ground as he fainted.**

Xxxx...

Lyra woke up in their room to find a worried Dobby holding out some hot chocolate for her. She took it gratefully and finished it in a few gulps.

"Dobby, what happened? How did I get here? Is everyone alright? Where's Harry and da-Sirius Black?" she fired the questions at Dobby.

Dobby's ears drooped, "Missy and Master Harry be attacked by dementors. Missy fainted, Dobby bes bringing her here. Master Harry bes in the hospital wing. And Blacky bes being kept on the seventh floor. They bes giving him the kiss soon."

"WHAT?!!" Lyra yelled, "Dobby take me to where Harry is. Again hide me as you did but make sure that I can will it away."

With two snaps of his finger, Dobby deposited Lyra in the hospital wing. Lyra heard Hermione say, "**Professor, Black's telling the truth - we saw Pettigrew - he escaped when Professor Lupin turned into a werewolf -"**

**"- he's a rat -"**

**"- Pettigrew's front paw, I mean, finger, he cut it off -"**

**"- Pettigrew attacked Ron, it wasn't Sirius -"**

**But Dumbledore held up his hand to stem the flood of explanations.**

**"It is your turn to listen, and I beg you will not interrupt me because there is very little time," he said quietly. "There is not a shred of proof to support Black's story, except your word - and the word of two thirteen-year-old wizards will not convince anybody. A street full of eyewitnesses swore they saw Sirius murder Pettigrew. I myself gave evidence to the Ministry that Sirius had been the Potters' Secret-Keeper. "**

**"Professor Lupin can tell you -" Harry said, unable to stop himself**

**"Professor Lupin is currently deep in the forest, unable to tell anyone anything. By the time he is human again, it will be too late, Sirius will be worse than death. I might add that werewolves are so mistrusted by most of our kind that his support will count for very little and the fact that he and Sirius are old friends -"**

**"But -"**

**"Listen to me, Harry. It is too late, you understand me? You must see that Professor Snape's version of events is far more convincing than yours. "**

**"He hates Sirius," Hermione said desperately. "All because of some stupid trick Sirius played on him -"**

**"Sirius has not acted like an innocent man. The attack on the Fat Lady - entering Gryffindor Tower with a knife - without Pettigrew, alive or dead, we have no chance of overturning Sirius's sentence. "**

**"But you believe us. "**

**"Yes, I do," said Dumbledore quietly. "But I have no power to make other men see the truth, or to overrule the Minister of Magic. . . . "**

Harry stared up into the grave face and felt as though the ground beneath him were falling sharply away. Neither he nor Lyra could believe that. Dumbledore was the Cheif Warlock of wizengamot, surely he could demand a trial.

**"What we need," said Dumbledore slowly, and his light blue eyes moved from Harry to Hermione, "is more time. "**

**"But -" Hermione began. And then her eyes became very round. "OH!"**

**"Now, pay attention," said Dumbledore, speaking very low, and very clearly. "Sirius is locked in Professor Flitwick's office on the seventh floor. Thirteenth window from the right of the West Tower. If all goes well, you will be able to save more than one innocent life tonight. But remember this, both of you: you must not be seen. Miss Granger, you know the law - you know what is at stake. . . You - must - not - be -seen. "**

**Harry didn't have a clue what was going on. Dumbledore had turned on his heel and looked back as he reached the door. **But Lyra understood, she had figured it out some time ago.

**"I am going to lock you in. It is -" he consulted his watch, "five minutes to midnight. Miss Granger, three turns should do it. Good luck. "**

**"Good luck?" Harry repeated as the door closed behind Dumbledore. "Three turns? What's he talking about? What are we supposed to do?"**

But suddenly Hermione fell as though stunned. Lyra willed herself visible. She fumbled with the neck of Hermione's robes, pulling from beneath them a very long, very fine gold chain.

"Harry, come here," she said urgently. "Quick!"

"Wha-" Harry was surprised to see her there but obeyed. He moved towards her, completely bewildered. She was holding the chain out. He saw a tiny, sparkling hourglass hanging from it.

"Here -"

She had thrown the chain around his neck too.

"Ready?" she said breathlessly.

"What are we doing? And what are you doing?" Harry said, completely lost.

Lyra turned the hourglass over three times.

The dark ward dissolved. Harry had the sensation that he was flying very fast, backward. A blur of colors and shapes rushed past him, his ears were pounding, he tried to yell but couldn't hear his own voice -

And then he felt solid ground beneath his feet, and everything came into focus again -

He was standing next to Lyra in the deserted entrance hall and a stream of golden sunlight was falling across the paved floor from the open front doors. He looked wildly around at Lyra, the chain of the hourglass cutting into his neck.

"Lyra, what -?"

"In here!" Lyra seized Harry's arm and dragged him across the hall to the door of a broom closet; she opened it, pushed him inside among the buckets and mops, then slammed the door behind them.

"What - how - Lyra, what happened?"

"We've gone back in time," Lyra whispered, lifting the chain off Harry's neck in the darkness. "Three hours back. . . "

Harry found his own leg and gave it a very hard pinch. It hurt a lot, which seemed to rule out the possibility that he was having a very bizarre dream.

"But -"

"Shh! Listen! Someone's coming!" Lyra had her ear pressed against the cupboard door.

"Footsteps across the hall. . . um, I think it's you lot going down to Hagrid's!"

"Are you telling me," Harry whispered, "that I am here in this cupboard and I am out there too?"

"Yes," said Lyra, her ear still glued to the cupboard door. "I'm sure it's you lot. It doesn't sound like more than three people. . . and you're walking slowly because you're under the Invisibility Cloak - "

She broke off, still listening intently.

"We've gone down the front steps. . . . "

Lyra sat down on an upturned bucket, looking desperately anxious, but Harry wanted a few questions answered.

"What is that hourglass thing?"

"It's called a Time-Turner," Lyra whispered, "Hermione had been using it all year to get to all her lessons. I figured it out a while ago and did my research. Professor McGonagall must have given it to her. She had been turning it back so she could do hours over again, that's how she has been doing several lessons at once, see? But... Harry, I don't understand what Dumbledore wants us to do. Why did he tell us to go back for three hours? How's that going to help Dad?"

Harry stared at her shadowy face.

"There must be something that happened around now he wants us to change," he said slowly. "What happened? We were walking down to Hagrid's three hours ago. . . . "

"This is three hours ago, and you are walking down to Hagrid's," said Lyra. "We just heard you leaving. . . . "

Harry frowned; he felt as though he were screwing up his whole brain in concentration.

"Dumbledore just said - just said we could save more than one innocent life. . . " And then it hit him. "Lyra, we're going to save Buckbeak!"

"But - how will that help Dad?"

"Dumbledore said - he just told us where the window is - the window of Flitwick's office! Where they've got Sirius locked up! We've got to fly Buckbeak up to the window and rescue Sirius! Sirius can escape on Buckbeak - they can escape together!"

"But didn't you see Buckbeak die?"

"Not with our own eyes, no!"

"Doesn't sound like anyone's there. . . Come on, let's go." Harry stood up but Lyra caught his hand, "We mustn't be seen Harry or it could be a disaster." Harry nodded.

**Harry pushed open the closet door. The entrance hall was deserted. As quietly and quickly as they could, they darted out of the closet and down the stone steps. The shadows were already lengthening, the tops of the trees in the Forbidden Forest gilded once more with gold.**

"If anyone's looking out of the window -" Lyra squeaked, looking up at the castle behind them.

"We'll run for it," said Harry determinedly. "Straight into the forest, all right? We'll have to hide behind a tree or something and keep a lookout -"

"Okay, but we'll go around by the greenhouses!' said Lyra breathlessly. "We need to keep out of sight of Hagrid's front door, or you'll see us! We must be nearly at Hagrid's by now!"

Still working out what she meant, Harry set off at a sprint, Lyra behind him. They tore across the vegetable gardens to the greenhouses, paused for a moment behind them, then set off again, fast as they could, skirting around the Whomping Willow, tearing toward the shelter of the forest. . . .

Safe in the shadows of the trees, Harry turned around; seconds later, Lyra arrived beside him.

"Right," she gasped. "We need to sneak over to Hagrid's. . . . Keep out of sight, Harry. . . . "

**They made their way silently through the trees, keeping to the very edge of the forest. Then, as they glimpsed the front of Hagrid's house, they heard a knock upon his door. They moved quickly behind a wide oak trunk and peered out from either side. Hagrid had appeared in his doorway, shaking and white, looking around to see who had knocked. And Harry heard his own voice.**

**"It's us. We're wearing the Invisibility Cloak. Let us in and we can take it off. "**

**"Yeh should've come!" Hagrid whispered. He stood back, then shut the door quickly.**

**"This is the weirdest thing we've ever done," Harry said fervently.**

"Let's move along a bit," Lyra whispered. "We need to get nearer to Buckbeak!"

They crept through the trees until they saw the nervous Hippogriff, tethered to the fence around Hagrid's pumpkin patch.

"Now?" Lyra whispered.

"No!" said Harry. "If we steal him now, those Committee people will think Hagrid set him free! We've got to wait until they've seen he's tied outside!"

This was starting to seem impossible. At that moment, there was a crash of breaking china from inside Hagrid's cabin.

"That's Hagrid breaking the milk jug," Harry whispered. "Hermione's going to find Scabbers in a moment -"

Sure enough, a few minutes later, they heard Hermione's shriek of surprise.

"Lyra," said Harry suddenly, "What if we-we just run in there and grab Pettigrew -"

"No!" said Lyra in a terrified whisper. "Don't you understand? We're breaking one of the most important wizarding laws! Nobody's supposed to change time, nobody!"

"We'd only be seen by ourselves and Hagrid!"

"Harry, what do you think you'd do if you saw yourself bursting into Hagrid's house?" said Lyra.

"I'd - I'd think I'd gone mad," said Harry, "or I'd think there was some Dark Magic going on -"

"Exactly! You wouldn't understand, you might even attack yourself! Don't you see? I read that awful things have happened when wizards have meddled with time. . . Loads of them ended up killing their past or future selves by mistake!"

"Okay!" said Harry. "It was just an idea, I just thought -"

But Lyra nudged him and pointed toward the castle. Harry moved his head a few inches to get a clear view of the distant front doors. Dumbledore, Fudge, the old Committee member, and Macnair the executioner were coming down the steps.

"We're about to come out!" Harry breathed.

**And sure enough, moments later, Hagrid's back door opened, and Harry saw himself, Ron, and Hermione walking out of it with Hagrid. It was, without a doubt, the strangest sensation of his life, standing behind the tree, and watching himself in the pumpkin patch.**

**"It's Okay, Beaky, it's okay. . . " Hagrid said to Buckbeak. Then he turned to Harry, Ron, and Hermione. "Go on. Get goin'."**

**"Hagrid, we can't -"**

**"We'll tell them what really happened -"**

**"They can't kill him -"**

**"Go! It's bad enough without you lot in trouble an' all!"**

**Harry watched Hermione throw the Invisibility Cloak over him and Ron.**

**"Go quick. Don' listen. . . . "**

**There was a knock on Hagrid's front door. The execution party had arrived. Hagrid turned, around and headed back into his cabin, leaving the back door ajar. Harry watched the grass flatten in patches all around the cabin and heard three pairs of feet retreating. He, Ron, and Hermione had gone. . .** but Harry and Lyra hidden in the trees could now hear what was happening inside the cabin through the back door.

**"Where is the beast?" came the cold voice of Macnair.**

**"Out - outside," Hagrid croaked.**

**Harry pulled his head out of sight as Macnair's face appeared at Hagrid's window, staring out at Buckbeak. Then they heard Fudge.**

**"We - er - have to read you the official notice of execution, Hagrid. I'll make it quick. And then you and Macnair need to sign it. Macnair, You're supposed to listen too, that's procedure -"**

**Macnair's face vanished from the window. It was now or never.**

"Wait here," Harry whispered to Lyra. "I'll do it."

**As Fudge's voice started again, Harry darted out from behind his tree, vaulted the fence into the pumpkin patch, and approached Buckbeak.**

**"It is the decision of the Committee for the Disposal of Dangerous Creatures that the Hippogriff Buckbeak, hereafter called the condemned, shall be executed on the sixth of June at sundown -"**

**Careful not to blink, Harry stared up into Buckbeak's fierce orange eyes once more and bowed. Buckbeak sank to his scaly knees and then stood up again. Harry began to fumble with the knot of rope tying Buckbeak to the fence.**

**". . . sentenced to execution by beheading, to be carried out by the Committee's appointed executioner, Walden Macnair. . . "**

**"Come on, Buckbeak," Harry murmured, "come on, we're going to help you. Quietly. . . quietly. . . "**

**". . . as witnessed below. Hagrid, you sign here. . . "**

**Harry threw all his weight onto the rope, but Buckbeak had dug in his front feet.**

**"Well, let's get this over with," said the reedy voice of the Committee member from inside Hagrid's cabin. "Hagrid, perhaps it will be better if you stay inside -"**

**"No, I - I wan' to be with him. . . . I don' wan' him to be alone -"**

**Footsteps echoed from within the cabin.**

**"Buckbeak, move!" Harry hissed.**

**Harry tugged harder on the rope around Buckbeak's neck. The Hippogriff began to walk, rustling its wings irritably. They were still ten feet away from the forest, in plain view of Hagrid's back door. "One moment, please, Macnair," came Dumbledore's voice. "You need to sign too. " The footsteps stopped. Harry heaved on the rope. Buckbeak snapped his beak and walked a little faster.**

Lyra's white face was sticking out from behind a tree.

"Harry, hurry!" she mouthed.

**Harry could still hear Dumbledore's voice talking from within the cabin. He gave the rope another wrench. Buckbeak broke into a grudging trot. They had reached the trees. . . .**

"Quick! Quick!" Lyra moaned, darting out from behind her tree, seizing the rope too and adding her weight to make Buckbeak move faster. Harry looked over his shoulder; they were now blocked from sight; they couldn't see Hagrid's garden at all.

"Stop!" he whispered to Lyra. "They might hear us. "

Hagrid's back door had opened with a bang. Harry, Lyra, and Buckbeak stood quite still; even the Hippogriff seemed to be listening intently. Silence. . . then -

**"Where is it?" said the reedy voice of the Committee member. "Where is the beast?"**

**"It was tied here!" said the executioner furiously. "I saw it! Just here!"**

**"How extraordinary," said Dumbledore. There was a note of amusement in his voice.**

**"Beaky!" said Hagrid huskily.**

**There were a swishing noise and the thud of an ax. The executioner seemed to have swung it into the fence in anger. And then came the howling, and this time they could hear Hagrid's words through his sobs.**

**"Gone! Gone! Bless his little beak, he's gone! Musta pulled himself free! Beaky, yeh clever boy**!"

Buckbeak started to strain against the rope, trying to get back to Hagrid. Harry and Lyra tightened their grip and dug their heels into the forest floor to stop him.

**"Someone untied him!" the executioner was snarling. "We should search the grounds, the forest. "**

**"Macnair, if Buckbeak has indeed been stolen, do you really think the thief will have led him away on foot?" said Dumbledore, still sounding amused. "Search the skies, if you will. . . . Hagrid, I could do with a cup of tea. Or a large brandy. "**

**"O' - o' course, Professor," said Hagrid, who sounded weak with happiness. "Come in, come in. . . . "**

Harry and Lyra listened closely. They heard footsteps, the soft cursing of the executioner, the snap of the door, and then silence once more.

"Now what?" whispered Harry, looking around.

"We'll have to hide in here," said Lyra, who looked very shaken. "We need to wait until they've gone back to the castle. Then we wait until it's safe to fly Buckbeak up to Dad's window. He won't be there for another couple of hours... Oh, this is going to be difficult..."

She looked nervously over her shoulder into the depths of the forest. The sun was setting now.

"We're going to have to move," said Harry, thinking hard. "We've got to be able to see the Whomping Willow, or we won't know what's going on. "

"Okay," said Lyra, getting a firmer grip on Buckbeak's rope. "But we've got to keep out of sight, Harry, remember... "

**They moved around the edge of the forest, darkness falling thickly around them until they were hidden behind a clump of trees through which they could make out the Willow.**

**"There's Ron!" said Harry suddenly.**

**A dark figure was sprinting across the lawn and its shout echoed through the still night air.**

**"Get away from him - get away - Scabbers, come here -"**

**And then they saw two more figures materialize out of nowhere. Harry watched himself and Hermione chasing after Ron. Then he saw Ron dive.**

**"Gotcha! Get off, you stinking cat -"**

**"There's Sirius!" said Harry. The great shape of the dog had bounded out from the roots of the Willow. They saw him bowl Harry over, then seize on. . . .**

**"Looks even worse from here, doesn't it?" said Harry, watching the dog pulling Ron into the roots. **"Ouch - look, I just got walloped by the tree, this is weird"

**The Whomping Willow was creaking and lashing out with its lower branches; they could see themselves darting here and there, trying to reach the trunk. And then the tree froze.**

"That was Crookshanks pressing the knot. And there we go. . . " Harry muttered. "We're in. "

**The moment they disappeared, the tree began to move again. Seconds later, they heard footsteps quite close by. Dumbledore, Macnair, Fudge, and the old Committee member were making their way up to the castle.**

**They watched the four men climb the castle steps and disappear from view. For a few minutes, the scene was deserted. Then -**

**"Here comes Lupin!" said Harry as they saw another figure sprinting down the stone steps and halting toward the Willow. Harry looked up at the sky. Clouds were obscuring the moon completely.**

**They watched Lupin seize a broken branch from the ground and prod the knot on the trunk. The tree stopped fighting, and Lupin, too, disappeared into the gap in its roots.**

**"If he'd only grabbed the cloak," said Harry. "It's just lying there. . . . "**

He turned to Lyra.

"If I just dashed out now and grabbed it, Snape'd never be able to get it and -"

"Harry, we mustn't be seen!"

"How can you stand this?" he asked Lyra fiercely. "Just standing here and watching it happen?" He hesitated at her furious expression. "Don't forget Harry James Potter that we're here to save _MY DAD_!"

"I'm going to grab the cloak!" Harry said guiltily.

"Harry, no!"

Lyra seized the back of Harry's robes not a moment too soon. Just then, they heard a burst of song. It was Hagrid, making his way up to the castle, singing at the top of his voice, and weaving slightly as he walked. A large bottle was swinging from his hands.

"See?" Lyra whispered. "See what would have happened? We've got to keep out of sight! No, Buckbeak!"

**The Hippogriff was making frantic attempts to get to Hagrid again; Harry seized his rope too, straining to hold Buckbeak back. They watched Hagrid meander tipsily up to the castle. He was gone. Buckbeak stopped fighting to get away. His head drooped sadly.**

**Barely two minutes later, the castle doors flew open yet again, and Snape came charging out of them, running toward the Willow.**

**Harry's fists clenched as they watched Snape skid to a halt next to the tree, looking around. He grabbed the cloak and held it up.**

**"Get your filthy hands off it," Harry snarled under his breath.**

**"Shh!"**

**Snape seized the branch Lupin had used to freeze the tree, prodded the knot, and vanished from view as he put on the cloak.**

"So that's it," said Lyra quietly. "We're all down there... and now we've just got to wait until we come back up again..."

"What do you mean? You weren't there."

"I was," She took the end of Buckbeak's rope and tied it securely around the nearest tree, then sat down on the dry ground, arms around her knees and proceeded to tell Harry what had happened. In return, Harry told her all she had missed.

"Harry, there's something I don't understand... Why didn't the Dementors get Dad? I remember them coming, and then I passed out... two of them swooped at me... it brought back all those memories."

Harry put an arm around her. He explained what he'd seen; how, as the nearest Dementor had lowered its mouth to Harry's, a large silver something had come galloping across the lake and forced the Dementors to retreat.

Lyra's mouth was slightly open by the time Harry had finished.

"But what was it?"

"There's only one thing it could have been, to make the Dementors go," said Harry. "A real Patronus. A powerful one. "

"But who conjured it?"

Harry didn't say anything. He was thinking back to the person he'd seen on the other bank of the lake. He knew who he thought it had been. . . but how could it have been?

"Didn't you see what they looked like?" said Lyra eagerly. "Was it one of the teachers?"

"No," said Harry. "He wasn't a teacher. "

"But it must have been a really powerful wizard, to drive all those Dementors away. . . If the Patronus was shining so brightly, didn't it light him up? And he conjured two of them. Couldn't you see -?"

"Yeah, I saw him," said Harry slowly. "But. . . maybe I imagined it. . . I wasn't thinking straight. . . I passed out right afterward. . . . "

"Who did you think it was?"

"I think -" Harry swallowed, knowing how strange this was going to sound. "I think it was my dad. "

Harry glanced up at Lyra and saw that her mouth was fully open now. She was gazing at him with a mixture of alarm and sympathy.

"Harry, your dad's - well - dead," she said quietly.

"I know that," said Harry quickly.

"You think you saw his ghost?"

"I don't know. . . no. . . he looked solid. . . . "

"But then -"

"Maybe I was seeing things," said Harry. "But. . . from what I could see. . . it looked like him. . . . I've got photos of him. . . . "

Lyra was still looking at him through her expression was of grave thinking. "I know it sounds crazy," said Harry flatly.

"I would never think your crazy Harry!"

He turned to took at Buckbeak, who was digging his beak into the ground, apparently searching for worms. But he wasn't really watching Buckbeak.

**He was thinking about his father and about his father's three oldest friends. . . Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs... Had all four of them been out on the grounds tonight? Wormtail had reappeared this evening when everyone had thought he was dead. . . Was it so impossible his father had done the same? Had he been seeing things across the take? The figure had been too far away to see distinctly. . . yet he had felt sure, for a moment, before he'd lost consciousness. . . .**

The leaves overhead rustled faintly in the breeze. The moon drifted in and out of sight behind the shifting clouds. Lyra sat with her face turned toward the Willow, waiting.

And then, at last, after over an hour. . .

"Here we come!" Lyra whispered.

She and Harry got to their feet. **Buckbeak raised his head. They saw Lupin, Ron, and Pettigrew clambering awkwardly out of the hole in the roots. Then came Hermione. . . then the unconscious Snape, drifting weirdly upward. Next came Harry and Black. They all began to walk toward the castle.**

**Harry's heart was starting to beat very fast. He glanced up at the sky. Any moment now, that cloud was going to move aside and show the moon. . .**

"Harry," Lyra muttered as though she knew exactly what he was thinking, "we've got to stay put. We mustn't be seen. There's nothing we can do. . . . "

"So we're just going to let Pettigrew escape all over again. . . " said Harry quietly.

"How do you expect to find a rat in the dark?" snapped Lyra. "There's nothing we can do! Don't you think I would have caught the Traitor by now if it was possible? We came here to save dad and that's what we're gonna do."

"All right!"

The moon slid out from behind its cloud. They saw the tiny figures across the grounds stop. Then they saw movement -

"There goes Lupin," Lyra whispered. "He's transforming. "

"Lyra!" said Harry suddenly. "We've got to move! Lupin's going to run into the forest, right at us!"

"Quick!" Lyra stood up, dashing to untie Buckbeak. "Quick! Where are we going to go? Where are we going to hide? The Dementors will be coming any moment -"

"Back to Hagrid's!" Harry said. "It's empty now - come on!"

They ran as fast as they could, Buckbeak cantering along behind them. They could hear the werewolf howling behind them. . . .

The cabin was in sight; Harry skidded to the door, wrenched it open, and Lyra and Buckbeak flashed past him; Harry threw himself in after them and bolted the door. Fang the boarhound barked loudly.

"Shh, Fang, it's us!" said Harry, hurrying over and scratching his ears to quieten him. "That was really close!" he said to Lyra.

"Yeah. . . "

Harry was looking out of the window. It was much harder to see what was going on from here. Buckbeak seemed very happy to find himself back inside Hagrid's house. He lay down in front of the fire, folded his wings contentedly, and seemed ready for a good nap.

"I think I'd better go outside again, you know," said Harry slowly. "I can't see what's going on - we won't know when it's time -"

Lyra looked up. Her expression was suspicious.

"I'm not going to try and interfere," said Harry quickly. "But if we don't see what's going on, how're we going to know when it's time to rescue Sirius?"

"Well... okay, then... I'll come with you... we'll lock Buckbeak in "

They stepped outside again and edged around the cabin. Harry could hear yelling in the distance. That meant the Dementors were closing in on Sirius... He and Lyra would be running to him at any moment...

**Harry stared out toward the lake, his heart doing a kind of drumroll in his chest. . . . Whoever had sent that Patronus would be appearing at any moment. . . .**

**For a fraction of a second, he stood, irresolute, in front of Hagrid's door. _You must not be seen_. But he didn't want to be seen. He wanted to do the seeing. . . . He had to know. . .**

**And there were the Dementors. They were emerging out of the darkness from every direction, gliding around the edges of the lake. . . . They were moving away from where Harry stood, to the opposite bank. . . . He wouldn't have to get near them. . . .**

**Harry began to run. He had no thought in his head except his father. . . If it was him. . . if it really was him. . . he had to know, had to find out. . . . **Lyra followed terrified at what he was doing.

The lake was coming nearer and nearer, but there was no sign of anybody. On the opposite bank, he could see tiny glimmers of silver - his own attempts at a Patronus -

There was a bush at the very edge of the water. Harry threw himself behind it, peering desperately through the leaves. On the opposite bank, the glimmers of silver were suddenly extinguished. A terrified excitement shot through him - any moment now -

"Come on!" he muttered, staring about. "Where are you? Dad, come on -"

"What?" Harry swiveled to see Lyra glaring at him.

"Dad's coming! I must see him Lyra, please I must!" he pleaded and Lyra hesitated. But no one came. Suddenly Lyra grabbed him and turned him to face her.

"No one's coming to Harry! James Potter is dead. He died thirteen years ago. The one who saved us there was someone living to breathe. Someone I li-trust completely." Lyra looked at his eyes.

And then it hit him - he understood. He hadn't seen his father he had seen himself! "Thank you, Ly!" He pressed his lips on her. He broke off and then Harry raised his head to look at the circle of Dementors across the lake. One of them was lowering its hood. It was time for the rescuer to appear - but no one was coming to help this time -

Harry flung himself out from behind the bush and pulled out his wand.

"EXPECTO PATRONUM! " he yelled.

And out of the end of his wand burst, not a shapeless cloud of mist, but a blinding, dazzling, silver animal. He screwed up his eyes, trying to see what it was. It looked like a horse. It was galloping silently away from him, across the black surface of the lake.

Lyra stood there transfixed. But she shook herself awake and a smile graced her lips. She jumped to stand beside Harry, hidden by shadows. She leveled her wand, the memory of Harry's lips pressed against her feeling her with a warm sensation, "EXPECTO PATRONUM!" A silver mist shot out of her wand before taking the shape of a canine. It joined Harry's Patronus.

Harry saw them charge at the swarming Dementors. . . . Now they were galloping around and around the black shapes on the ground, and the Dementors were falling back, scattering, retreating into the darkness. . . . They were gone.

Harry's Patronus turned. It was cantering back toward Harry across the still surface of the water. It wasn't a horse. It wasn't a unicorn, either. It was a stag. It was shining brightly as the moon above . . . it was coming back to him. . . .

It stopped on the bank. Its hooves made no mark on the soft ground as it stared at Harry with its large, silver eyes. Slowly, it bowed its antlered head. And Harry realized. . . "Prongs," he whispered.

But as his trembling fingertips stretched toward the creature, it vanished.

Lyra's Patronus, a dog that looked just like _Padfoot_, ran towards her. Lyra smiled at it as it faded away.

Harry stood there, hand still outstretched.

Then his brain caught up with what he had done before casting the charm and he cursed. _Damn Potter, you just ruined your friendship, couldn't you've kept your feelings to yourselves. _

He turned towards Lyra, "Lyra, I am so sorry for what happened earlier you know," he stammered as Lyra frowned. "I overstepped my boundaries. I hope you'll forget it and we can still be friends,"

"No!" Harry felt someone had just stabbed him in the heart. "I won't forget it Harry Potter and I'll like to know why you did it."

"I...I-"

"I'm waiting,"

"I like you a lot, as in more than a friend," He stuttered.

Lyra closed the distance between them and grabbed Harry by his collar. Harry waited for the punch but it never came. Instead, Lyra pressed her lips on him. Harry's brain short-circuited.

"I hoped you would say that," Lyra smiled at him.

"What?" Harry asked, coming out of his daze.

"I like you too Harry. I really do." Lyra whispered.

Harry grinned, "Will you be my girlfriend?"

"Hmm...Let me think," Lyra grinned mischievously, "Yes!"

"YES!!" Harry pumped his fist in the air. They grinned at each other. Lyra then took off to get Buckbeak while Harry hid in the bushes.

Lyra was back within a few minutes with Buckbeak and she crouched down beside Harry. "Look, Snape!" Harry whispered.

Together they peered around the bush at the other bank. Snape had regained consciousness. He was conjuring stretchers and lifting the limp forms of Harry and Black onto them. A third stretcher, no doubt bearing Ron, was already floating at his side. Then, wand held out in front of him, he moved them away toward the castle.

"Right, it's nearly time, Dobby will get me back to the castle," said Lyra tensely, looking at her watch. "We've got about forty-five minutes until Dumbledore locks the door to the hospital wing. We've got to rescue Dad and get back into the ward before anybody realizes we're missing..."

They waited, watching the moving clouds reflected in the lake, while the bush next to them whispered in the breeze. Buckbeak, bored, was ferreting for worms again.

"Do you reckon he's up there yet?" said Harry, checking his watch. He looked up at the castle and began counting the windows to the right of the West Tower.

"Look!" Lyra whispered. "Who's that? Someone's coming back out of the castle!"

Harry stared through the darkness. The man was hurrying across the grounds, toward one of the entrances. Something shiny glinted in his belt.

"Macnair!" said Harry. "The executioner! He's gone to get the Dementors! This is it, Ly -"

Lyra put her hands on Buckbeak's back and Harry gave her a leg up. Then he placed his foot on one of the lower branches of the bush and climbed up in front of her. He pulled Buckbeak's rope back over his neck and tied it to the other side of his collar like reins.

"Ready?" he whispered to Lyra. "You'd better hold on to me -"

He nudged Buckbeak's sides with his heels.

Buckbeak soared straight into the dark air. Harry gripped his flanks with his knees, feeling the great wings rising powerfully beneath them.

Harry urged Buckbeak forward. They were gliding quietly toward the upper floors of the castle... Harry pulled hard on the left-hand side of the rope, and Buckbeak turned. Harry was trying to count the windows flashing past -

"Whoa!" he said, pulling back as hard as he could.

Buckbeak slowed down and they found themselves at a stop unless you counted the fact that they kept rising up and down several feet as the Hippogriff beat his wings to remain airborne.

"He's there!" Harry said, spotting Sirius as they rose up beside the window. He reached out, and as Buckbeak's wings fell, was able to tap sharply on the glass.

Black looked up. Harry saw his jaw drop. He leaped from his chair, hurried to the window and tried to open it, but it was locked.

"Stand back!" Lyra called to him, and she took out her wand, still gripping the back of Harry's robes with her left hand.

"Alohomora!"

The window sprang open.

"How - how -?" said Black weakly, staring at the Hippogriff.

"Get on - there's not much time," said Harry, gripping Buckbeak firmly on either side of his sleek neck to hold him steady. "You've got to get out of here -the Dementors are coming - Macnair's gone to get them. "

Black placed a hand on either side of the window frame and heaved his head and shoulders out of it. It was very lucky he was so thin. In seconds, he had managed to fling one leg over Buckbeak's back and pull himself onto the Hippogriff behind Lyra.

"Okay, Buckbeak, up!" said Harry, shaking the rope. "Up to the tower - come on. "

The Hippogriff gave one sweep of its mighty wings and they were soaring upward again, high as the top of the West Tower. Buckbeak landed with a clatter on the battlements, and Harry and Lyra slid off him at once.

"Sirius, you'd better go, quick," Harry panted. "They'll reach Flitwick's office any moment, they'll find out you're gone. "

Buckbeak pawed the ground, tossing his sharp head.

"Who are you?" croaked Sirius staring at Lyra.

"I-I am Ly-Lyra Luna Andromeda Black... Mum was able to save me," Lyra breathed looking nervously at her father. _What if he didn't like her_, _what if he didn't believe her?_

Sirius looked at her in shock and with an inscrutable expression. Then he put Lyra's fears to rest by grasping her in a hug. Lyra stiffened before relaxing. She hugged him back. "Lyra my...my daughter."

Lyra broke the hug and said with an anxious expression, "You must go now! We will talk later, go!"

"Yes Sirius get a move on," said Harry

But Black was still staring down at Harry.

"How can I ever thank -"

"GO!" Harry and Lyra shouted together.

Black wheeled Buckbeak around, facing the open sky.

"We'll see each other again, Lyra," he said. "You are - truly your father's son, Harry..."

He squeezed Buckbeak's sides with his heels. Harry and Lyra jumped back as the enormous wings rose once more. . . The Hippogriff took off into the air. . . He and his rider became smaller and smaller as Harry gazed after them. . . then a cloud drifted across the moon. . . . They were gone.

Harry!"

Lyra was tugging at his sleeve, staring at her watch. "We've got exactly three minutes to get back down to the hospital wing without anybody seeing us - before Dumbledore locks the door -"

"Okay," said Harry, wrenching his gaze from the sky, "let's go..."

"No you twit," Lyra concentrated and made herself resemble Hermione. "Dobby! Can you pop us just around the corridor of Hospital Wing?" Dobby appeared and snapped his fingers.

They had reached the end of the corridor with the hospital wing entrance. "Okay - I can hear Dumbledore," said Lyra, looking and sounding like Hermione, tensely. "Come on, Harry!"

They crept along the corridor. The door opened. Dumbledore's back appeared.

"I am going to lock you in," they heard him saying. "it is five minutes to midnight. Miss Granger, three turns should do it. Good luck. "

Dumbledore backed out of the room, closed the door, and took out his wand to magically lock it. Panicking, Harry and Lyra ran forward. Dumbledore looked up, and a wide smile appeared under the long silver mustache. "Well?" he said quietly.

"We did it!" said Harry breathlessly. "Sirius has gone, on Buckbeak. . . . "

Dumbledore beamed at them.

"Well done. I think -" He listened intently for any sound within the hospital wing. "Yes, I think you've gone too - get inside - I'll lock you in -"

Harry and Lyra slipped back inside the infirmary. It was empty except for Ron, who was still lying motionless in the end bed. As the lock clicked behind them, Harry crept back to his own bed, Lyra tucked the Time-Turner back under Hermione's robes. Then she used legilimency on Hermione and put some false memories of Harry and Hermione saving Sirius and Buckbeak. Lyra enervated her and Dobby then popped her back out. A moment later, Madam Pomfrey came striding back out of her office.

Xxxx...

Later Harry told Lyra about Snape blaming him for Sirius' escape and how he lost his order of Merlin. Lupin returned Harry the Marauders Map and the invisibility cloak before he left.

Lyra and Harry were very happy to be finally together. Sirius and Lyra exchanged letters and he gave her a photo album of her childhood and she wrote back informing him of where she lived, and he promised to get her out of there.

The only sour note was Dumbledore informing Lyra she would have to go back. But with Sirius' note to get her out of there and Harry's promise to keep in touch, things were looking up for her that summer.

**AN: There will be a chapter on the Summer next, under 'Past'.**

**Please review...**


	5. Past: Part 4

**AN: Claymaster27 please understand that the story can not go complete AU at school until the first task so as to avoid Dumbledore's suspicion. After the first task, the story would be a lot different. Thank you for your reviews...**

**Park850G ****you have to understand that Harry had more block on his intelligence than Lyra so he has a hard time using the intelligence as he didn't have one at his disposal during childhood. Harry is a human, he is prone to mistakes and when you were a mask for a long time, you become that mask and have a hard time showing your true self. Lyra never had to hide her intelligence and hence its nothing new for her to make a cunning plan. Also, Lyra doesn't have friends reporting her every move to Dumbledore, I liked the name you gave him (wink). And as to why Dumbledore didn't react to Lyra's presence it is because she was masquerading as Hermione remember? And both Harry and her have super occlumency skills so he couldn't use legilimency... Anyway thanks for the review...**

**I would also thank everyone else that has taken their time to review... **

**_IMPORTANT: I have removed Harry/multi-pairing as you can see in the summary. This is because I want Luna to have someone special, someone, solely for her. Also, I want Luna to fight beside Lyra, but after reading a few other fanfics I realized that lovers don't make a good team as they are too scared for the other, to concentrate on their enemies. But the main reason was to give Luna a more active role than just be part of Harry's harem. There is no change in Neville's pairing_**** (yet).**

**Disclaimer: NOT mine.**

Chapter: PAST: Part 4 (Summer)

It was past midnight, Sirius Black was about to go to sleep after having woken by yet another nightmare from his time in Azkaban. He took a long gulp of water when suddenly-

POP!

Sirius whirled around to see a house-elf and a body- _his daughter's body._ Lyra appeared to be in bad shape. Her clothes appeared to have been torn and there were welts and scars all over her little body. Her hands appeared to be in a twisted position that seemed impossible to achieve. Her face was bruised and hands burned. She seemed to not be breathing at all.

"Master Harry's dogfather be doing something for Missy Lyry. Dobby bes finding her in her home being beaten by a bad man. The bad man tried to take off Missy's clothes. Dobby bes stopping him and then Dobby bes bringing her here." Dobby's words snapped Sirius out of his shocked silence at seeing his daughter so bruised and battered.

"Dob...Dobby thank you for bringing her here, I will see what I can do," Sirius kneeled beside his daughter.

"Dobby bes doing what Master Harry sir bes asking. Dobby now bes going. Master Harry's dogfather bes calling Dobby if he needs anything." Sirius hardly registered Dobby's words. Tears trickled down his cheeks at Lyra's vulnerable body.

He stood up, he had no idea what to do. Whom could he turn to? And then came the answer. He hesitated for a moment then decided Lyra was more important.

He quickly scribbled a note and called, "Kreacher," a rather old grimly house-elf, having a bulbous, snout-like nose, bloodshot eyes, many folds of skin, and white hair growing out of his bat-like ears appeared, muttering the whole while.

"Nasty Master bes calling Kreacher, yes he does. What would Kreacher's poor mistress say?"

"ENOUGH! Give this to Andromeda and come straight back. Say nothing to her."

Kreacher took the note and disappeared with a POP! Sirius picked Lyra up and carried her bridal style to his room. He put her on his bed and then came down. As soon as he arrived, the floor flared to life and out stepped Andromeda Tonks her wand in hand.

"Andi!"

"Siri!" Andromeda Tonks looked at him in suspicion.

"You must believe me, Andi, please! I would never betray James and Lily. I was never their secret keeper, it was Peter. I wasn't even given a trial I swear! Please, Andi!" Sirius begged.

Andromeda regarded him for a few moments and then smiled. "I believe you Sirius," said man breathed a sigh of relief, "Now what is this about not getting a trial." Andromeda's eyes narrowed.

"I wasn't questioned at all. They sent me straight to Azkaban," Andromeda snarled. "But that isn't why I called you," Andromeda raised an eyebrow, "During the war, I married Marlene McKinnon in secret. We had a daughter," Andromeda gasped. Sirius gave a pained smile and continued, "The day Marlene died, I thought I had lost my daughter too. I was...I was heart-broken. But she was alive, I found out about a month ago. She needs help, Andi! An elf, Harry's elf, brought her here. She is in bad shape. You must do something." Sirius begged.

Andromeda nodded and asked," Where is she?"

"Upstairs, my room."

They went upstairs and Andromeda opened the door to Sirius' room. As soon as she laid her eyes on Lyra, she gasped. "What the hell happened?" she asked but began to cast diagnostic charms on her. She conjured a parchment and her findings were recorded in it. After a few minutes, she stopped. What she found had her cursing.

"Ivy!"

POP!

"Bring me my healer's bag."

Two pops later, Andromeda turned to Sirius, "It's good that you called me so soon. She has a concussion, broken bones in hand, three broken ribs, one cracked ribs, third-degree burns and whip scars. There are a number of older injuries that haven't been properly healed. I will spell her asleep and then treat her injuries both old and new. She's going to be in lots of pain when she wakes up." Seeing Sirius' horrified expression she added, "It's going to be alright Siri, she is going to be alright."

Andromeda began the long process of healing. At first, she healed the concussion. Then she decided that it would be much better to just get all the healing done now, rather than heal some injuries with spells, only to have to re-heal them later with Skele-Gro. The ribs would be tricky and required her to set up a complicated spell to ensure she would not suffocate from the removal of five of her ribs. First, she vanished the bones in her right hand, before setting up the spell for her rib cage and removing those bones as well. Once the Skele-Gro was in her stomach, she allowed herself to relax slightly. She then decided to treat her burns. Finally, she turned her attention to an anxious Sirius.

"She'll be fine," when she saw him relax she added, "Her scars would need time to heal. I am going to leave some salves, two for her scars and whip marks and one for her burn. She would be in an extensive potion regiment, for her injuries as well as malnutrition. She is too small, skinny and underweight for her age. She would be in a healing comma until tomorrow noon."

Sirius could only nod as he stared at his precious daughter wondering what went wrong. He blamed himself for going after pretty revenge, for not checking if his daughter was alive. Andromeda conjured two chairs and they sat down to watch the child sleep. "What did you name her?" Andromeda's question startled Sirius.

"Lyra, Lyra Luna Andromeda Black."

Now Andromeda was startled. "You named her after me?"

"You were my favorite cousin after all," Sirius smiled the first true smile since Lyra's arrival.

The two cousins spent the night catching up and keeping an eye on the sleeping child.

Xxxx...

Lyra felt as though she had been mauled by a herd of rampaging hippogriffs. She felt a tingling sensation in her hands, legs, shoulder, and chest. She groggily opened her eyes and then shut it closed due to the light. A few moments later the room seemed to darken and she opened her eyes again. She blinked, the room...it wasn't her. She panicked and tried to sit up but a pair of hands pushed her back down. She saw a tall dark woman with long, thick shiny dark hair, thin lips, soft brown eyes with long eyelashes, and a strong jaw.

"You shouldn't try to sit up." The woman admonished softly.

"Who are you? Where am I? How did I get here? What happened?" Lyra fired question after question at the woman. Suddenly the door opened and in came Sirius. "Dad?! What are you doing here? Are you in trouble?" she eyed the woman suspiciously.

The woman gave a soft laugh, "She is just as impatient as you Siri! To answer your questions dear, I am Andromeda Tonks, a healer, and your aunt. And yes, you're named after me. You are at the Black family Manor, Number 12, Grimmauld place. An elf, named Dobby I think, brought you here. You were in bad shape, your father called me and I treated you. And Sirius is currently living here and no he isn't in trouble. Don't worry I won't rat out my own cousin."

Lyra looked at Sirius for confirmation. At his nod, she smiled at the woman, "It's great to meet you, Aunty Andromeda."

"Call me Andi. Now tell me how are you feeling?" Lyra described her health and Andromeda told her about all the potion she required to take. Lyra just nodded, her head bowed in shame.

"Look at me," Sirius waited until Lyra did, "It wasn't your fault. Whatever happened. You have nothing to be ashamed of." He said with conviction. Lyra nodded eyes wide. Andromeda quietly made her way out.

"What happened, love?" Seeing her hesitation and fear, Sirius sighed. Sirius shook himself down to focus his mind. "My family was obsessed with blood purity and me being the oldest son it was my responsibility to follow in their beliefs. I didn't, Little one. I fought against the bigotry and insanity with everything I had..."

Lyra listened, growing ever more horrified at what her father had been put through. She was told of the years Sirius spent protecting his younger brother Regulus from their mother's ire, the many punishments that he took when he argued back or when Regulus questioned the preaching rather than accepted what had been preached. Lyra listened and came to the understanding of how similar their childhood predicament had been.

Then the story moved onto the Hogwarts years, the loss at the connection between the brothers made worse by their sorting in Gryffindor and Slytherin and finally the big fight that had forced Sirius to leave home and move in with James and the elder Potters. That Sirius' own mother had ended up using the Cruciatus curse on him before trying to beat him beyond death's door had Lyra cursing on her father's behalf and was shocked at Sirius' iron will in Apparating to the Potter's property and walking up the long path to the front door.

Lyra understood what her father was doing. As Sirius finished his tale Lyra began her own, tears were cried by both at the harshness of their lives and the tattered remains of what could only laughably be called a childhood they shared. Lyra ended her story curled in her father's arms, who rocked her back and forth. The talk hadn't been easier the second time around. And Lyra had flinched every time her father had gotten angry on her harsh punishment and especially at the mention of her almost being raped.

The two of them spent hours talking. Sirius fed Lyra not heeding to her protests. Lyra found out that she had actually lived with her mother's cousin. She had never known as she had not been allowed to ask questions. She found out that he had hated her mother. The discussion had turned towards Hogwarts and Dumbledore and Sirius had been all for killing the old coot after hearing her memories. Lyra had been able to stop him from doing something drastic.

Later after she had fallen asleep, Sirius had ordered Kreacher to get her things. (All except the quill that is, after being told the story of last summer.)

Xxxx...

After waking up and drinking her potions, Lyra had done her morning ablutions and then Sirius had again spoon-fed her. She tried to protest, but Sirius' words shut her up. "Lyra, I never got a chance to do this while you grew up. I would like to make up for our lost times."

Sirius wanted to teach her about her heritage, but Lyra stopped him.

"Dad Harry doesn't know this either."

"What?"

It had led to Lyra telling Sirius all about Harry's life, both at Dursley' and Hogwarts. This then led to Sirius wanting to bring Harry there. After some discussion, Lyra called Dobby.

"What cans Dobby bes doing for Missy Lyry?"

"Dobby, I want to thank you. If you hadn't got me out of there, I don't know what would have happened." Lyra kissed Dobby's forehead. The exited elf blushed to the tip of his ears.

"Now Dobby can you give this letter to Harry?" Lyra handed over a letter to Dobby. "Dobby cans," the little elf popped out.

Lyra couldn't help but compare Dobby to Kreacher. Kreacher had really hated her. She hoped that one day she would be able to show the aged elf that blood purity didn't matter.

Xxxx...

POP!

Harry landed on the kitchen of Number 12 Grimmauld Place. He was promptly bowled over by an excited Lyra. "Harry, how are you? Did the Dursley's give you a hard time? Did you eat anything?"

Harry laughed, "Hello to you too Lyra. I am fine. No Dursleys left me alone after hearing about my mass murdering godfather. And yes I have eaten." Lyra let go of him, blushing.

Then she turned serious, "Harry thank you. If you hadn't told Dobby to look out for me, I don't know what would have happened..." Harry squeezed her hand.

"No thanks required. After all, it's my duty as your boyfriend to always keep you safe." That got him a kiss on the cheek. "Anyway, where is Sirius?"

"Dad is going to get Aunt Andi. They will be here in a minute. Aunt Andi is a healer, as you know from my letter. And Harry..." she bit her lips, "Dad doesn't know about you being my boyfriend. I didn't get the chance to tell him." Harry nodded. Just then Andromeda Tonks entered the kitchen. She began to cast diagnostic charms at Harry. Sirius entered after her and both father and daughter laughed at his predicament. Harry stood there bemused. After she was done, Andromeda turned to Harry.

"Hello Harry, I am Andromeda Tonks. It is a pleasure to meet you. Now I see that you are malnourished and have a few older injuries that haven't been properly healed. I will get you some potions that you must take. No argument." Harry nodded bemusedly as Sirius and Lyra chuckled.

Andromeda excused herself. Sirius moved to grab Harry in a hug. "Hello, Pup! It's nice to see you again."

Harry tried to soak in the comfort that he felt. When they broke up, Sirius indicated them to sit. And then began a long long talk. Sirius taught both of them about the history of their houses, their future role, etc. When they finally broke off it was past dinner time. Dobby brought them dinner.

Andromeda had told them that the potions required exercise to work. So all three of them decided to start exercising, yes even Sirius (he was in a potions regiment to counter his stay in Azkaban).

It paved the way for a schedule. In the morning, they would go for a run, Harry at Surry and Lyra and Padfoot (not Sirius) in London. Then they would exercise, they joined a gym, Sirius in an elfin glamour. Then they would have breakfast and lessons would begin. The lessons were in House duties, dance lessons and even Runes and Arithmancy at Harry's request. Finally, they would have lunch and Harry would go back. Lyra and Sirius then had some quality, father-daughter time.

On Harry's birthday, they went shopping. Sirius and Harry in glamour and Lyra using her metamorph powers. They shopped in both the magical and muggle world. Harry was gifted a Marauder's prank journal and a two-way mirror that belonged to James, from Sirius as well as a completely new wardrobe, and a broom polishing kit of the top order. Lyra's gift had Harry crying. She had gotten Sirius' help to search for the photos of baby Harry and compiled them in an album. It had everything from Harry's first walk to the first time in a broomstick.

The three of them had lots of fun as Sirius shared stories and all. This continued until Harry had to go to the Weasleys. Of course, Sirius had brought Harry a Goblin glamour bracelet to hide his new appearance as well. Lyra didn't need it with her metamorph powers...

Xxxx...

Two days before Harry went, Lyra asked Sirius a question, "Dad, what is love?"

Sirius was taken aback, "Love? Do you mean romantic love?" at Lyra's nod, he continued "Love is an incredible feeling. Love is accepting another person with all his fault. Love is supporting them in any and everything, even when you may not agree on the situation. Love is a missing person when they're not by your side, and putting their needs before your own. Love is looking at that person and not seeing anyone else. Love is the butterflies in your stomach when you gaze at one another. Love is going out of your way to make him smile. Love isn't about kissing and all, it is not physical that is lust or attraction, love is emotional and even spiritual. Love can be both frightening and exhilarating. It can destroy you and it can make you whole."

Lyra nodded, deep in thought. "Little one, do you think...I mean are you in love?" Sirius asked, almost afraid of her answer.

"I think so...yes!" Lyra looked him in the eye.

"Who is it?" Sirius asked going into over-protective dad mode.

"Ha-Harry." Lyra's answer shocked Sirius to his core.

"Harry?! But...no...you can't..." Sirius spluttered.

"Why?" Lyra asked hurt.

"Why? H-he is my godson. I am supposed to encourage him to date. But how can I... you're my daughter. I am supposed to not let boys come near you..." Sirius ranted. Lyra grinned.

"Its Ok dad, you can be the immature godfather in this situation. I really love Harry dad, please! And besides, we're already dating!"

"What?!"

"Do you have a problem?" Lyra raised an eyebrow.

"Yes!... I mean n-no!" Sirius cowered under her glare. "Alright, I have no problem with it."

"That's a good boy." Lyra grinned.

Xxxx...

That afternoon, Lyra and Harry were sitting in the kitchen. Harry had been rather fidgety. Lyra was concerned.

"What is it?" Lyra finally asked.

"Huh?" Harry blinked

"What's got you so bothered?"

"Nothing..." Harry hastily replied. Lyra raised an eyebrow. "Alright..." he relented, "Ly, what is love?"

Lyra blinked. "Romantic love?" Harry nodded. Lyra began to laugh. At Harry's hurt look she explained, "I asked dad the same thing today."

"What did he say?" Harry was intrigued.

Lyra told him the exact same thing Sirius told her. Harry frowned.

"Ly..." He took a deep breath and looked her in the eyes, "I...I think I love you..."

Lyra froze. "Re-really?" Harry nodded.

Lyra's face broke into a smile. "Oh, Harry! I love you too! I came to the same conclusion in the morning."

Harry's eyes widened and he grinned. He grabbed her in a hug. When they parted, Lyra looked at him in the eyes, their face inches apart.

"I love you Lyra Luna Andromeda Black," Harry promised.

"Forever and always!" Lyra vowed in the answer. Their lips met. Something inside Lyra reacted to Harry. Something deep within their souls seems to connect. They broke up.

"Did you...did you feel that?" Harry asked in awe.

"I..I did. It felt like..like-"

"-Our souls connected."

"Yes, that. Like a part of me was missing, but I found it." Harry nodded. They looked down to see in awe a golden and silver cord connecting their hearts. It slowly disappeared but the teens could still feel the connection.

"What is that?" Harry asked.

"I don't know..." Lyra trailed off.

"Maybe we will find something in the library?" Harry asked. Lyra mutely nodded.

Suddenly Harry stopped his expression one of fear. Lyra looked concerned. "What is it?"

"I just realized..."

"What?"

"Sirius' gonna kill me!" Harry looked horrified. Lyra began to laugh.

"He's alright with it. I told him in the morning. He was confused whether he should be the overprotective father or fun godfather."

"Oh! What did you say?"

"I told him to be an immature godfather." The two of them began to laugh.

It was only later that they would discover a white feline and black bird drawn over their heart in a perfect yin-yang position.

Xxxx...

There was only one more notable incident that summer (apart from the Quidditch world cup when there had been a death-eater attack. Both Lyra and Sirius had been rather scared for Harry especially at Malfoy's threat, but Harry had put their worries to rest). It was Lyra's birthday, August 21st. Lyra had never celebrated her birthday before as she hadn't known the date. So Sirius had spent the whole day spoiling her. He had gifted her his own Marauder's map, a firebolt, some jewelry and perhaps the most precious if all her mother's journal. Lyra had broken down into tears at that. Harry had sent her a beautiful never ending highly warded journal and a simple pendant with two entwined hearts one of sapphire other onyx, signifying her unique eye color. Inside were two photos one of her and Harry smiling and waving, other was a photo of her dad, mum, and her baby self. She promptly wore it tears in her eyes and endured her father's teasing. Even Andromeda had sent her gifts.

Lyra was looking through the kitchen when she found a small den hidden behind a dingy door. Inside the dark, dingy cupboard-like room under the pipes , one could find a variety of strange items such as: a very large old-fashioned boiler (which took up most of the space), a nest-like jumbled pile of assorted rags and blankets with a small dent to show where Kreacher curled up to sleep every night, stale bread crusts and mouldy bits of cheese, small glinting objects and coins, Shattered, silver-framed black and white photographs of the Black family, his favourite being of Bellatrix, whose glass had been clumsily mended with Spellotape , a copy of _Nature's Nobility: A Wizarding Genealogy,_ a hidden dead mouse. She saw a gaudy necklace with an S on it lying innocently in the den. She picked it up. Whatever it was sent her skin crawling.

"What is this? It feels so evil and-"

"-Sentient" Lyra jumped. She turned to see Harry standing behind her. "Happy Birthday, love. Did you like my gift?" In answer, Lyra gave him a peck on the lips and showed him the pendant.

POP! The two teens were startled to see Kreacher looking rather angry and pointing at the locket. "Nasty master's half-blood brat and half-blood godson bes stealing Master Regulus' locket. Kreacher won't let them!"

'We weren't stealing it Kreacher." Lyra told the aged elf, "This is Uncle Regulus' locket? This feels so evil..."

"Master Regulus told Kreacher to destroy it. It bes Master Regulus' last order. Kreacher tried... but Kreacher failed." he began to wail.

"Oh Kreacher, we will help you. We will help you destroy this locket, we will help you fulfill uncle Regulus' last wish, we promise." Lyra told him as Harry nodded.

"Nasty half-bloods bes helping Kreacher fulfill master Regulus' last wish? Kreacher won't be a bad elf anymore?" They both nodded.

"How did you get the locket Kreacher?" Lyra asked.

"Master Sirius ran away, good riddance, for he was a bad boy and broke my Mistress's heart with his lawless ways. But Master Regulus had proper pride; he knew what was due to the name of Black and the dignity of his pure blood. For years he talked of the Dark Lord, who was going to bring the wizards out of hiding to rule the Muggles and the Muggle-borns ... and when he was sixteen years old, Master Regulus joined the Dark Lord. So proud, so proud, so happy to serve ...

"And one day, a year after he had joined, Master Regulus came down to the kitchen to see Kreacher. Master Regulus always liked Kreacher. And Master Regulus said ... he said ... he said that the Dark Lord required an elf."

"Voldemort needed an elf?" Harry repeated, looking around at Lyra, who looked just as puzzled as he did.

"Oh yes," moaned Kreacher. "And Master Regulus had volunteered Kreacher. It was an honor, said Master Regulus, an honor for him and for Kreacher, who must be sure to do whatever the Dark Lord ordered him to do . . . and then to c-come home."

Kreacher's breath came in sobs.

"So Kreacher went to the Dark Lord. The Dark Lord did not tell Kreacher what they were to do but took Kreacher with him to a cave beside the sea. And beyond the cave, there was a cavern, and in the cavern was a great black lake . . ."

The hairs on the back of the teen's neck stood up. Kreacher's croaking voice seemed to come to them from a distance. They saw what had happened as clearly as though they had been present.

"...There was a boat ...There was a b-basin full of potion on the island. The D-Dark Lord made Kreacher drink it. . . ."

The elf quaked from head to foot.

"Kreacher drank, and as he drank, he saw terrible things . . . . Kreacher's insides burned . . . Kreacher cried for Master Regulus to save him, he cried for his Mistress Black, but the Dark Lord only laughed . . . He made Kreacher drink all the potion . . . He dropped a locket into the empty basin. . . . He filled it with more potion.

"And then the Dark Lord sailed away, leaving Kreacher on the island. . . ." the two teens gulped.

"Kreacher needed water, he crawled to the island's edge and he drank from the black lake . . . and hands, dead hands, came out of the water and dragged Kreacher under the surface. . . ."

"How did you get away?" Harry asked whispering.

Kreacher raised his ugly head and looked at Harry with his great, bloodshot eyes.

"Master Regulus told Kreacher to come back," he said.

"I know — but how did you escape from th-those thing?"

Kreacher did not seem to understand.

"Master Regulus told Kreacher to come back," he repeated.

Of course, the elf disapparated, they thought. Of course, Voldemort would have considered the ways of house-elves far beneath his notice, just like all the purebloods who treat them like animals . . . It would never have occurred to him that they might have magic that he didn't.

"The house-elf's highest law is his Master's bidding," intoned Kreacher. "Kreacher was told to come home, so Kreacher came home. . . ."

"Well, then, you did what you were told, didn't you?" said Harry kindly. "You didn't disobey orders at all!"

Kreacher shook his head, rocking as fast as ever.

"So what happened when you got back?" Lyra asked. "What did Uncle Regulus say when you told him what had happened?"

"Master Regulus was very worried, very worried," croaked Kreacher. "Master Regulus told Kreacher to stay hidden and not to leave the house. And then . . . it was a little while later . . . Master Regulus came to find Kreacher in his cupboard one night, and Master Regulus was strange, not as he usually was, disturbed in his mind, Kreacher could tell . . . and he asked Kreacher to take him to the cave, the cave where Kreacher had gone with the Dark Lord. . . ."

"And he made you drink the potion?" said Harry, disgusted.

But Kreacher shook his head and wept. Understanding dawned on Harry and he wrapped an arm around Lyra.

"M-Master Regulus took from his pocket a locket like the one the Dark Lord had," said Kreacher, tears pouring down either side of his snoutlike nose. "And he told Kreacher to take it and, when the basin was empty, to switch the lockets. . . ."

Kreacher's sobs came in great rasps now; Harry had to concentrate hard to understand him.

"And he ordered — Kreacher to leave — without him. And he told Kreacher — to go home — and never to tell my Mistress — what he had done — but to destroy — the first locket. And he drank — all the potion — and Kreacher swapped the lockets — and watched . . . as Master Regulus . . . was dragged beneath the water . . . and . . ."

"Oh, Kreacher!" Lyra sobbed softly, her uncle sacrificed himself for Voldemort's locket, it must have been very important.

"So you brought the locket home," he asked kindly. "And you tried to destroy it?"

"Nothing Kreacher did make any mark upon it," moaned the elf. "Kreacher tried everything, everything he knew, but nothing, nothing would work. . . . So many powerful spells upon the casing, Kreacher was sure the way to destroy it was to get inside it, but it would not open. . . . Kreacher punished himself, he tried again, he punished himself, he tried again. Kreacher failed to obey orders, Kreacher could not destroy the locket! And his Mistress was mad with grief, because Master Regulus had disappeared, and Kreacher could not tell her what had happened, no, because Master Regulus had f-f-forbidden him to tell f-family what happened in the c-cave..."

Kreacher began to sob so hard that there were no more coherent words. Lyra knelt down and hugged him.

Kreacher looked up in shock. "Yous be hugging Kreacher?"

"Of course, you are family. You were very brave Kreacher, Uncle Regulus will be very proud."

"We will help destroy it Kreacher" Harry promised kindly.

"Kreacher bes thankful. Kreacher bes obeying Mistress Lyra and mistress's half-blood." The elf and the teen got up.

Lyra laughed at Harry's new name as Harry ruefully grinned.

"Um... Kreacher, if Regulus forbid you to tell someone from the family about the locket then how did you tell Lyra?"

"Mistress Lyra bes the Heiress black, Mistress ordered Kreacher to tell, it bes overriding master Regulus' order. So Kreacher had to obey."

"Um... Ok" they looked at each other.

"You know this feels like that Riddle's diary. Maybe..." Harry trailed off.

"Maybe what?" Lyra asked

"Maybe basilisks venom can destroy it?"

"You think?"

"We can try..."

Harry ordered Dobby to carefully get a basilisk's fang from the chamber of secrets, he had shown Dobby that place last year. They looked at each other before Lyra held the locket and hissed to it.

_$OPEN$_

The locket opened and a black mist rose up and took a form of Tom Riddle. But before he could utter a word, Harry stabbed the locket. An unholy screech erupted from the locket and Sirius came running just as the black mist dissipated.

"What happened?" Sirius demanded.

But before either teen could answer, Kreacher began to wail and wrapped his arms around Lyra's legs. "Mistress bes fulfilling her promise. Mistress bes the best mistress ever..."

Harry whispered to Sirius, "Long story Padfoot."

Xxxx...

Later Lyra had explained to Sirius what had happened, Sirius had spent half an hour crying for Regulus. Sirius had promised to research about the locket in the Black Library, it was the least he could do for his beloved brother. Kreacher had begun to behave really well and he had even grown a lot healthy. Lyra had been amused to discover the elf's rather unusual humor and they had teamed up to prank Sirius.

It was the day before Lyra left for Hogwarts when Sirius found what exactly the locket was. He and Lyra were in the library doing their research when Sirius dropped the book he was reading. Lyra whirled around sharply and rushed to him.

"Dad, are you alright?" she asked concerned.

"I...I think I have found it, the locket was a...a _hor_-_Horcrux!" _Sirius whispered.

"What is a _Horcrux?" _Lyra asked wondering what it was that freaked her dad out so much.

"A _Horcrux_ is the vilest piece of magic. It is essentially a container where one stores one's soul. As long as the _Horcrux _is there one cannot die."

"How does one make a _Horcrux _and why didn't others tried to make it?"

"One has to kill a person in cold blood, only pre-conspired murder splits the soul. It requires darkest of the dark rituals to make a Horcrux. Not even the book goes into its details. Lyra one doesn't make those abominations because it is against nature, against the _Olde Magic. _That Voldemort made one of this is like...he-he was insane, the process drives one insane."

"Voldemort didn't just make one..." Lyra realized with a jolt, "Harry said that the diary felt just like the locket did... The Diary was a _Horcrux_..." she whispered. _And what about Harry's scar? _Lyra wondered.

"Morgana! Was Voldemort insane?" Sirius cursed. "If he really made more than one of those then that means...that means-"

"-He is still out there..." Lyra spoke eyes wide.

**AN: please review...**

**This was the general overview of the summer... Details may be found later in the story as more flashbacks...**

**Note- ****_$Parseltongue$_**


	6. Authors note

Hello guys. Sorry, but I won't be posting anything for the next week due to various problems mostly health related. Please don't hold it against me. I promise the next post will be on next Monday. But until then, please wait...

Also, the next chapter might introduce a new character. Here is a preview of the next chapter...

**Many Potters before you have tried but have been judged unworthy of the Peverell magic. Your great-grandfather Charles Potter had been able to get the ring but the ring hadn't accepted him.**

Yeah in this story Charles Potter is Harry's great grandfather. As to how Fleamont Potter got his name, stay tuned to find out.

Until then... Sayonara...


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